


To Boldly Go

by Too_Much_Fandom



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, BAMF Tina Goldstein, Childbirth, Dubious Consent (Chapter 4 only), Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Overprotective Theseus Scamander, Pregnancy, Protective Newt Scamander, Rivals to Lovers, Unplanned Pregnancy, Weddings, engagements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 46,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28516152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Too_Much_Fandom/pseuds/Too_Much_Fandom
Summary: In which our favorite people from the Fantastic Beasts world are in Starfleet and navigate life on a Federation Starship! There is fun, hilarity, angst, some scary moments, and, of course, some love along the way.
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Leta Lestrange/Theseus Scamander, Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 106
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello, I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and finally found a way to make it happen! 
> 
> If you love both Fantastic Beasts, and Star Trek, then come right in! I hope I did it justice. 
> 
> If you love Fantastic Beasts and know nothing about Star Trek, come right in anyway, there's plenty to love about this sci-fi futuristic setting. And I will provide a small glossary at the start of each chapter to help you along. If you are interested in more detail about some of the terms provided, I recommend checking out Memory Alpha, the most comprehensive Star Trek wiki site https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Portal:Main
> 
> A note on Newt's creatures: as in the FB universe, Newt loves creatures and has a bunch, picked up from travels (galactic travels in this case!) Some of the creatures that show up in this story are alien creatures that exist in the Star Trek universe; others are magical creatures from the Wizarding World, that, for purposes of this story, are also alien creatures from non-Earth planets. 
> 
> Glossary for Chapter 1: 
> 
> United Federation of Planets: an interstellar union of planetary governments that agreed to exist semi-autonomously under a single central government
> 
> Starfleet: the military organization of the Federation; headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Earth
> 
> Starfleet:
> 
> Stardate: a standardized interstellar calendar system; I don't fully understand how it works, so my stardates are not so consistent, but I'm trying
> 
> Replicator: device that converts energy into matter. Generally used for food, beverages, clothing, and other basic necessities. Not everything can be replicated, but food is a big one. If you have a functional replicator, you will never starve
> 
> Transporter: a device that turns matter into energy, then reconstitutes it somewhere else. This is how a lot of travel takes place in Star Trek. This form of travel is called beaming (if you've ever heard the phrase "beam me up, Scotty!" that's what this is!) It cannot be used in every situation. There are distance limits and other things can interfere with it. 
> 
> Ten Forward: name of a lounge/bar area on a starship
> 
> Synthehol: synthetic alcohol. Real alcohol is generally unavailable on starships because they don't want officers getting drunk. 
> 
> Betazoid: a humanoid species, known for telepathic abilities. They come from the planet Betazed.
> 
> Vulcan: a humanoid species, known for being very logical and having pointy ears. They come from the planet Vulcan.
> 
> I hope that covers it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49353.1: We have arrived at the Alpha Centauri system to pick up our two newest officers, a pair of brothers who come highly recommended... _

“There she is,” Theseus gestured to the viewscreen, awestruck, “the  _ USS Ilvermorny _ . And I’m going to be second in command of her...”

Newt rolled his eyes, but had to admit, this ship was going to be a fine specimen to tinker with as Chief Engineer. “And I get to tinker with her as much as I want,” Newt grinned boyishly, and this time, it was Theseus’ turn to roll his eyes. 

“Just...don’t ruin this for us, please?” he asked, trying to get the point across without begging. 

“You don’t have to bail me out every time,” Newt said quietly, “I keep telling you that.”

“And what am I supposed to do, let you get kicked out of Starfleet and traipse around the galaxy in a tin can held together with replicated duct tape so you can collect more alien creatures?” Theseus growled, “No, absolutely not.”

“You know it’s what I’d rather be doing,” Newt goaded, but upon seeing the pinched look on Theseus' face, switched to a more serious tack, “I admit I do enjoy engineering, and the  _ Ilvermorny  _ is sure to be a delight. I...I’m just as happy about my promotion as you are about yours.”

“Good,” Theseus clapped him on the back, “and you know, as much as you exasperate the hell out of me, I’m proud of you. You’re a brilliant engineer, and you absolutely deserve this post.”

“And I’ll admit you’re a brilliant commander, and you deserve your new post as well,” Newt smiled fondly at his older brother, then, with a cheeky grin, added, “Commander Scamander...has a nice ring to it!”

He anticipated the swat coming from Theseus and ducked just in time. 

“We’re here at the rendezvous coordinates,” the shuttle pilot bellowed out, “time to get on the transporter pad!”

The brothers scrambled over their luggage and the cages containing Newt’s pets, already laid out on the pad, and stood side by side, ready to beam over to the  _ USS Ilvermorny.  _ Theseus smoothed out his red and black Starfleet uniform, then took a moment to straighten out the communicator on Newt’s yellow and black uniform. The brothers grinned at each other, ready for the coming adventure.

“Energize!” the pilot called out, and Newt and Theseus disintegrated into energy particles, beaming over to their new home. 

“Captain Graves, sir,” Chief Security Officer Tina Goldstein addressed her captain as they walked together to transporter room three, “I’ve been reading up on the files of our new First Officer and Chief Engineer, and, well…”

“No doubt you learned that they are both exceptional at what they do,” Graves interjected with a paternal grin. 

“I mean, yes, they are both quite brilliant and decorated and all that,” Tina admitted, “but I’ve noticed the engineer also has a bit of a record…”

“Yes, he is a bit unconventional in his methods,” Graves shrugged, “but well known to be a spectacular engineer. The best in Starfleet.”

“Still, his utter disregard for rules and authority--” Tina started, feeling rather agitated.

“The Scamander Brothers are a package deal, all the higher ups in Starfleet know it,” Graves interjected, “besides, a galaxy class ship like this deserves a galaxy class engineer. And his brother knows how to handle him.”

“I hope you’re right,” Tina muttered frustratedly, “he better not make my job more difficult.”

“It’ll be fine, Tina,” Graves insisted, “now stop being such a Debbie Downer, and let’s give our new officers a proper welcome.”

Tina huffed, but plastered on a smile as they turned the corner to the transporter room. “The shuttle is here and they’re ready to beam aboard, sir,” the transporter operator informed them as they came in. 

“Alright, so let’s beam them over,” Graves ordered.

Tina watched curiously as the particles began to materialize, first the luggage and cages, and then the two humanoid forms. In moments, two human men stood before her. She had, of course, already seen their pictures while going over their files. Plus, the red uniform was obviously the new first officer, while the yellow indicated the new chief engineer. 

“Welcome aboard!” Graves put out his hand to shake the hands of the new officers, “I’m Captain Percival Graves, this here is Lieutenant Tina Goldstein, our chief of security. Lieutenant Goldstein, our new first officer Commander Theseus Scamander,” he bit his lip trying not to laugh as he realized how funny it sounded, “and chief engineer Lieutenant Newt Scamander.”

Everyone shook hands all around murmuring introductions. “Alright, now we’ve got everyone, Lieutenant Goldstein, please show Comm--First Officer Scamander and Lieutenant Scamander to their quarters. I’m sure they’ll want to rest up before tonight’s reception and then starting at their new posts first thing tomorrow. Their belongings will be beamed directly into their rooms.”

“Yes, sir,” Tina nodded, then, gesturing the brothers over, “this way, sirs.”

She silently led them through a maze of corridors and a turbolift. Theseus was busy taking in the surroundings of the wonderful ship. Newt might have been too, except he found the chief of security much more interesting. Like him, she wore a yellow uniform. And it fit her in all the right places…

Newt mentally slapped himself. He was here to be the ship’s Chief Engineer, not to ogle colleagues. Especially not a colleague who looked like she could kill him without ever drawing her phaser, and seemed the type to do exactly that if she were to catch him looking at her the way he was right now. He tore his gaze away from Lieutenant Goldstein before his brother (or the lieutenant herself) could notice.

“Well, here we are,” Tina announced, “first officer’s quarters are here, and chief engineer’s quarters are right across the way,” she gestured to two sets of doors directly across the hall from each other. 

“Thank you,” both brothers nodded politely.

“Of course,” Tina gave a small smile, “and we’ll see you two at the reception in Ten Forward at 1900 hours. The computer will show you where to go.” She turned around and walked briskly away, leaving Newt and Theseus on their own.

“Well, I suppose we’d better start unpacking,” Theseus shrugged, “shall I knock on your door when it’s time to leave?”

“Yes,” Newt agreed, “I’d like to get the creatures set up and fed before the reception.”

“Please make sure they’re secure this time,” Theseus groaned, “I can’t deal with another incident so soon after the last one…”

“Stop worrying so much,” Newt huffed, “I promise, I’ve rigged up some new security measures.”

“Bloody engineer,” Theseus muttered as he went into his room, “it had better work this time...”

Four hours later, the brothers milled about Ten Forward at the reception held in their honor. Theseus, of course, was in his element, chatting away, charming everyone he met. Newt was much more shy, and stood off to the side slowly sipping his syntheholic drink, just watching the scene from under his floppy mess of bangs. 

“So you’re the new Chief Engineer,” an unfamiliar voice said, and Newt looked over his shoulder to find a short, heavyset man with a thin mustache. The man smiled widely and held out his hand, “sorry, I shoulda introduced myself. Lieutenant Jacob Kowalski, I’m at Ops,” he shared.

“Lieutenant Newt Scamander, and you seem to already know what I’m here for,” Newt bit his lip shyly as he shook Jacob’s hand.

“I know you engineering types tend to be a bit shy,” Jacob gregariously patted Newt on the back, “but please, allow me to show you around, and introduce you to people.”

“Thank you,” Newt said sincerely. 

“Now let’s see, who’s who that you gotta know around here...ah, our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lestrange,” he gestured toward a Vulcan woman in a blue uniform.

“Leta…?” Newt nearly choked on his drink, “she’s here? On the Ilvermorny? I had no idea…”

“You know her?” Jacob raised an eyebrow curiously.

“We were in the same year at the Academy,” Newt explained, “although we, erm, we lost touch after. Haven’t seen her in years.”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll be nice to catch up,” Jacob smiled again, “now, you met the captain, I know, and ah, here, let’s go over to the Goldstein sisters…”

“Her sister’s here?” Newt asked, surprised.

“Oh, which one did you meet already?” Jacob asked.

“The security officer. She greeted us along with Captain Graves when we beamed aboard,” Newt explained.

“Ah, ok. Well, see,” Jacob said blushing crimson as he gestured toward Tina and a blonde woman in a flowing blue dress, “her sister Queenie is the ship’s counselor. And my girlfriend. Here, let’s go over and say hi.”

He steered Newt over toward the sisters. Newt was blushing too as they approached, stealing glances at Tina, who looked even more enticing in her formal uniform than in her standard uniform…

“No need to be nervous, we’re all good friends around here,” Queenie said to Newt as he and Jacob approached, and he could have sworn she winked. Winked! As though she was reading his mind…

“You’re a betazoid!” Newt blurted out by way of introduction, then blushed further. If Queenie was a betazoid, then so was Tina, which meant…

“Half betazoid,” Queenie smiled serenely as she explained, “human father, betazoid mother. I inherited the telepathic ability, Teenie didn’t.”

Newt tried not to think too hard about how relieved he was about that, but there was no escaping Queenie. She winked again.

“So, you two have met already?” she grabbed her sister’s arm.

“Yeah,” Tina looked over at Newt suspiciously. She still wasn’t sure his promotion and transfer to this ship was a good idea, given his reputation for disregarding rules. And she was determined to keep a close eye on him.

She hadn’t noticed it earlier when she’d been showing him to his room, but now, standing face to face, with him in his formal uniform, she realized he was quite nice to look at.  _ Stop it,  _ she admonished herself. She was not going to let his good looks charm her out of doing her job properly. 

“Aww, Teen…” Queenie raised her eyebrow suggestively.

“Stop reading my mind,” Tina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms defensively. Newt stole another glance at her and looked away blushing. She really was beautiful…

“Hey, Jacob, let’s go over to the bar and leave these two to their riveting conversation,” Queenie giggled, as Jacob grinned conspiratorially and linked arms with her as they walked away.

“So,” Newt was the first to break the silence, “we meet again. Nice place, erm, this Ten Forward.”

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Tina repeated awkwardly. They both looked at each other then looked away. Tina was fighting an inward battle between acknowledgement that this new crew member was incredibly attractive, the need to be polite, since they were going to be working together, and her overwhelming suspicion of him, having read through a record of several incidents that Starfleet really should have booted him for. 

It wasn’t long before they both wandered off in separate directions. Newt found Theseus and stuck by his side until they could both make a polite exit. Tomorrow would be their first day on the job, after all. 

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” Theseus patted Newt on the shoulder as they made their way back to their rooms, “everyone seems nice and affable. I do believe I’ll like working here.”

“I guess,” Newt shrugged. 

Theseus sighed. Newt was never one for socializing, and he always worried about his little brother fitting in. Even now, with Newt nearing 30, he never stopped worrying. 

“It’ll be great, you’ll see,” Theseus insisted, “now, rest up. We need to be at our posts at 0800 hours. Good night, Newt.”

“Good night, Theseus,” Newt replied, stepping into his room. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Theseus' first day aboard the USS Ilvermorny. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terms to know:
> 
> Impulse: under light speed (but still very fast)
> 
> Warp: above light speed

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49353.2: the new officers have safely arrived and are starting at their posts today. We have resumed course toward the Rigel system for scientific observation of an unusual celestial event... _

The brothers did not see each other the next morning, as Theseus was stationed on the bridge, while Newt was down in the belly of the ship, by the warp drive, although Theseus had explained when they found out their assignments that as Chief Engineer, Newt would find himself on the bridge from time to time. 

Newt arrived at his post right on time, and noticed everyone looking at him. He never liked being the center of attention, but then remembered he was the boss of the entire department. He had to say something. 

“Erm...good morning,” he mumbled, staring at his shoes and rubbing the back of his neck, “well, ehhhh, I’m looking forward to working with you all. I’ll just, uhhh, I’ll take a look around and get a sense of our warp drive efficiency, and then, yeah, we’ll just get to work. Right, at your posts!” 

Up on the bridge, Theseus took his seat next to the captain. “Everything smooth sailing as we head to the Rigel system,” Captain Graves informed him, “I don’t anticipate any disruptions. We should be entering the system in the next three hours or so.”

“Excellent,” Theseus grinned, relaxing into his chair. Being first officer definitely had its perks. He chatted easily with the other bridge officers. He wondered how his brother was doing, but seeing how nicely they were humming along, clearly engineering was doing well. 

Just after lunch, Jacob Kowalski announced, “We are entering the Rigel system, I’ll drop us out of warp and relay to Rigel 12, let them know we’re coming through.” 

He punched the message into his console and frowned. “Captain, something’s wrong with my console.”

“No problem, Kowalski, Goldstein, can you try?” Graves turned behind him to where Tina stood at her station. Tina started punching the keys and frowned as well. 

“Are we still at warp?” Theseus asked puzzled.

“Yeah,” Tina sighed, “no commands are going through, so we can’t even drop down to impulse.”

“Well, that’s a problem,” Theseus bit his lip nervously, “if we can’t drop out of warp, we’re going to blow right past the entire system in under an hour!”

“No kidding,” Tina huffed, then called out, “computer, what is the source of the malfunction?”

“Mal-mal-mal-” the computer stuttered before cutting out. The lights began to flicker and all the bridge officers looked around nervously. 

“Well, Number One,” Graves gave Theseus a wry smile, “it seems we’re about to see just what your brother can do. Get him up here on the bridge.” 

Theseus tapped his communicator. “Newt, we need you up here on the bridge. We’re dealing with a massive systems failure.”

“On my way,” Newt’s voice came through, “stand by.”

“In the meantime, since it’s gonna take a few minutes for him to get here, maybe someone can open up a panel? Kowalski?” Graves turned to Jacob. 

“Already on it, sir,” Jacob nodded, as he began undoing the bolts to open one of the wall panels. “Damn,” he breathed out as he looked inside, “half the wires in here are just cut!”

“Cut?!” Tina rolled up her sleeves and made her way over. Cut wires sounded like sabotage, and sabotage was a matter for security. 

Theseus was also striding over to get a closer look when all of a sudden… “Aaaaaaargh!” Jacob screeched as he fell to the floor, clutching the side of his neck.

“Scamander to sick bay!” Theseus yelped into his communicator, “medical emergency on the bridge!”

“On my way!” came the voice of Dr. Leta Lestrange. 

Tina was closest to Jacob, so she leaned over him to take a look at his injury. Then, some sort of creature, that looked sort of like a massive hairless rat jumped out at her.

“Eeeeeek!” she squealed, toppling backwards, and instinctively reaching for her phaser. 

“Stop! Don’t shoot!” called a voice from the door, and everyone turned to see Newt running in, breathless from having jogged all the way over from engineering. He scanned the floor and then gently scooped up the hairless rat. It climbed up to his shoulder, where it nestled comfortably. 

“Oh, bloody hell,” Theseus muttered as he facepalmed. 

Tina stood up, dusted herself off, and walked straight over to Newt, rounding angrily on him. “What is that--that crazy thing that’s on the loose?” she wrinkled her nose looking at the rat again.

“It’s just a Cardassian vole,” Newt shrugged nonchalantly. Jacob groaned, still lying on the floor clutching a bleeding wound on his neck. 

Tina plopped back down on the floor next to Jacob. “His neck’s bleeding! He’s hurt!, Oh, wake up, Kowalski…” she groaned, shaking him by the shoulders. 

She looked up at Newt. “That...that vole thing. It’s yours?” Newt nodded. “What else have you got on this ship with you?”

Jacob’s eyes fluttered open for a moment and settled on Newt. “You,” he said, trying to focus.

“Hello,” Newt grinned bashfully.

“Easy there, Kowalski,” Tina helped him to a seated position, and clutched his arm as he swayed. “He’s hurt! He looks ill!” Tina glared back at Newt. 

Newt was finding Tina to be quite annoying. “He’ll be fine,” he insisted, “Cardassian vole bites aren’t serious.”

Jacob began to retch, and Newt felt every pair of eyes in the room boring into him in utter disbelief. “Erm...I admit that is a slightly more severe reaction than I’ve seen, but if it was really serious, he’d have--”

“What?” Tina demanded, now standing back up, her furious, yet beautiful face just inches from Newt’s.

“Well,” Newt admitted sheepishly, “the first symptom would be flames out of his anus--”

“Well, this is screwed up!” Tina burst out, as everyone else murmured in agreement, and a terrified Jacob clutched his buttocks. 

“It’ll last 48 hours at most! I can keep him if you want me to--” Newt stammered, before Tina interrupted again.

“Keep him?!” she asked incredulously, “you can’t just keep him! He belongs in sick bay! Do you know anything about serving aboard a starship, Lieutenant Scamander?”

“I do know a few things, actually,” Newt started, but was interrupted by Leta arriving at the bridge. 

“Dr. Lestrange,” Graves nodded at her, “it seems Lieutenant Kowalski is suffering from a Cardassian vole bite.”

“I see,” Leta shot Newt a knowing look, then turned away as Theseus muttered another “bloody hell.”

“It’s easily treatable, but we’ll need to get him to sick bay,” Leta declared, “Goldstein, can you help me help him up?” 

Newt made his way over to help the two women, but Captain Graves stopped him. “I still need you to fix the computer,” he growled, “and as soon as that’s done, I want to see you in my ready room!” 

“Aye, sir,” Newt murmured contritely, then made his way over to the open panel to get to work. 

“Captain,” Theseus started, but Graves shook his head and stalked off to his ready room and let the door close behind him. 

Theseus sank down miserably into his seat as Newt got to work on the bitten wires. Within 15 minutes, everything was back to normal. The ship had finally dropped from warp to impulse, and Theseus had ordered them to double back to where they had originally meant to go, but zipped past in all the chaos. 

With everything worked out, Newt had no choice but to go face the captain, as ordered. He squared his shoulders and stepped into the ready room, where Captain Graves sat sternly behind his desk. 

No sooner had the door shut behind Newt, Graves was already on his feet, giving him the third degree. “What in the everloving hell happened back there?!” he demanded to know. 

“I’m sorry, sir,” Newt muttered, casting his glance downward. This had to be some sort of galactic record. Even he usually made it at least a week before getting into trouble. 

“That-that thing that you keep as a pet-”

“Cardassian vole,” Newt clarified, although the captain did not seem to care for his helpfulness.

“It fried the computer system! Nearly cost us the ship!” Graves shook his head in disbelief, “if you’re to keep it around...do you have any other pets, Scamander?”

“Erm…” Newt stalled as he counted on his fingers, “seventeen, sir.”

Graves’ eyes nearly bugged out of his head. But, well, he was the one who wanted the Scamander brothers on his ship. Both of them. He knew the younger one was quite a bit of trouble, but he was the best engineer in Starfleet. Besides, for all the damage he’d caused, he had fixed it in under twenty minutes…

Graves sighed and rubbed his temples, before switching gears. “Listen, Scamander, what happened back there...that absolutely cannot happen again. You may be the best engineer in Starfleet, but there’s only so far that’ll take you.”

“Yes, sir,” Newt bit his lip contritely. 

“But I’m setting some hard lines, now,” Graves said sternly, “you can’t keep your pets in your quarters anymore.”

“What?! No, sir, I promise-”

Graves held up a hand to silence him. “This is a starship, not a baseball game, Scamander,” Graves said warningly, “one strike is more than enough. We have a zoo on board and an excellent team of scientists in charge of it. Your pets will move there. You may spend as much time as you’d like with them when you’re off duty. But they’re going to live at the zoo. That’s an order, Lieutenant.”

Newt scowled, but realized he was out of options. And besides, it was a perfectly fair compromise. “Aye, sir,” he murmured quietly.

“Good. Now, go take a break for an hour, to move them over,” Graves commanded, “ask for Bunty. She’s the civilian zoologist, in charge of the zoo. Then you can go back down to engineering as soon as you’re done. Dismissed.” He sat back down at his desk, and Newt knew better than to say another word.

Theseus was pacing nervously outside when Newt exited the ready room. “Verdict?” Theseus asked resignedly. 

“Been ordered to send my creatures to live at the zoo,” Newt grimaced, “I suppose it could have been worse.”

“Damn right, it could have been worse,” Theseus snapped, “well, hop to it, and do try a little harder to stay out of trouble. Bloody hell, on our first day...”

Newt just huffed and sauntered off the bridge to carry out his orders to transfer his creatures. 

By the time he left the zoo, Newt was feeling rather better about the whole thing. Bunty was clearly highly qualified, and very nice as well, and it was certainly a healthier environment for his creatures than his limited quarters. 

On his way back to engineering, Newt decided to stop by sick bay and apologize to Jacob. He did feel sorry for the poor fellow. Jacob was actually just leaving when Newt arrived. 

“Well, you look rather better,” Newt noted, impressed.

“Yeah, Dr. Lestrange sorted me right out,” Jacob replied, “And she assures me there won’t be any...any flames out of, well, you know…” and both men chuckled bemusedly at that. “Anyway,” Jacob continued, “I have the rest of the day off, but I expect to be back on the bridge tomorrow.”

“Glad to hear it,” Newt smiled bashfully, “and I really am terribly sorry…”

“No worries,” Jacob clapped him on the back with a wide grin, “I’m always up for a bit of adventure. And no real harm done, right?”

Newt visibly relaxed at the reassurance, as Jacob continued, “Scamander, I expect you and I will be great friends.”

“F-friends?” Newt’s eyes widened. He’d never had too many of those in his life. And certainly none who really actively sought him out for friendship.

“You say that like it’s something outta another dimension,” Jacob chuckled.

“Oh, I just…” Newt stammered, trying to figure out what to say. “People like you, don’t they, Kowalski?”

“Ah, well, I’m sure people like you too,” Jacob countered.

“No, not really, I annoy people,” Newt shrugged. 

Jacob really didn’t know what to say to that. He felt sorry for the awkward young engineer. He seemed nice enough, if a bit odd. “Well, I look forward to being friends. You can call me Jacob when we’re off duty,” he put out his hand for Newt to shake.

Newt shook it in disbelief, as he replied, “and you can call me Newt when we’re off duty.”

“Atta boy!” Jacob grinned before heading off to rest in his room, “see ya ‘round!” 

Newt waved then headed over to the turbolift to go back down to engineering. But he felt a tap on his shoulder and wheeled around to find himself face to face with Tina Goldstein. Somehow, he got the feeling that she wasn’t about to extend the same offer of friendship as Jacob.

No, in fact, she’d just shoved him up against a wall. Newt couldn’t help the pleasant shiver that ran through him. He always did like a powerful woman. And there was Tina Goldstein, pinning him against a wall, her tight yellow and black uniform accentuating all her best features as her eyes glinted dangerously. It was getting rather difficult to breathe, let alone concentrate on what she was saying. 

“Listen up, Scamander, and listen up good,” Tina snarled, “I’m onto you. Everyone else may consider your shenanigans cute and funny, but I don’t. I’m in charge of security here, and I’m watching you. You step one toe outta line, I’m gonna throw you in the brig. Got it?” 

“Understood, Goldstein,” Newt bit his lip, trying not to laugh at the utter absurdity of the situation. 

“I’m glad we understand each other,” Tina released him. She looked him up and down for a moment. He was incredibly dashing, with his mussed hair and crisp uniform that matched hers. She could see why he charmed his way out of trouble most of the time. But not with her. Oh no, she was not going to let him get to her like that…

After one more shared glance, they silently went their separate ways. No, it was not going to be easy to work together. But they were both Starfleet officers, so they’d find a way to make it work. That was all either of them could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please share your thoughts below! I, for one, was delighted to find a way to sneak in the "flames out of his anus" dialogue XD


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Theseus must lead a team on a geological survey on a planet suffering from extreme seismic activity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary for this chapter:
> 
> Dermal regenerator: an instrument that that heals wounds on skin
> 
> plasma: it's a fourth state of matter, and is used to power warp drives on starships
> 
> tricorder: a data recording device. Used to record both environmental data and biological and chemical data
> 
> pattern enhancers: a device that can be used to allow a transporter to work in difficult conditions
> 
> cortical stimulators: like heart paddles, except for the brain
> 
> inaprovaline: a stimulant medication

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49371.2: we are currently in orbit around Ajilon Prime, and preparing an away team for a geological survey to find the cause of a recent shift in seismic activity… _

“Thank you, I’m so sorry to be a bother,” Newt smiled shyly at the nurse who was waving the dermal regenerator over a large, shiny burn on his forearm. The burn began to fade as new skin cells quickly moved in, prodded by the regenerator.

“No need to apologize, that’s what I’m here for,” the nurse smiled back flirtatiously, though Newt didn’t notice.

“I don’t know that I’d let him off so easy,” a familiar voice drawled, and Newt looked up to see Leta standing across from him, arms crossed and brows sternly furrowed. The severe bun in which her hair was tied revealed her pointed ears and further added to the imposing effect. 

“L-L-Leta,” Newt stammered in surprise, “what brings you here?”

“Have you forgotten that I’m the Chief Medical Officer of this ship?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, I merely meant...for such a minor injury, why do you see the need to check in on me?” Newt shrugged.

Leta strode over and smacked Newt on the shoulder. It was almost like old times. “Three times!” she hissed at him, “Three times this week you’ve been sent here to treat plasma burns! You need to take better care of yourself, Newt! Your disregard for your own health and safety is highly illogical!” 

“I would say, logic dictates that things happen when you’re handling warp cores and plasma conduits all day, what do you expect?” Newt snapped defensively. 

“I expect you to be more careful with yourself,” Leta said softly, squeezing his shoulder affectionately, “as both your doctor and your friend.”

“You know me,” Newt shrugged, “I’ve never been one for caution.”

“Understatement of the century,” Leta huffed, “well, if I see you back here with another plasma burn, I can assure you, my wrath will be far more painful than the burn,” Leta smiled cheekily, “so do take care. The next time I see you had better be in Ten Forward rather than here.”

“I’ll try my best,” Newt promised, rubbing his newly healed arm and hopping off the table to head back to work. 

As he rounded the corner away from sick bay, he walked smack into Tina Goldstein. She scowled at him. “Another visit to sick bay, Scamander?” she inquired. 

“And what’s it to you?” Newt glowered back.

“You’ve been racking up an awful lot of injuries,” Tina pointed out.

“Somehow, I get the feeling your concern has more to do with something other than caring for me,” Newt huffed. 

A flush rose in Tina’s cheeks for a moment, before she coolly replied, “I certainly don’t want anything bad to happen to you, Lieutenant, but yes, I have some concerns beyond your own wellbeing. Such as the wellbeing of this ship.”

“What do a few plasma burns on my body have to do with the wellbeing of this ship?” Newt scoffed. 

“You’re taking unacceptable risks, Scamander,” Tina said bluntly, “I know you have a history of rigging up all sorts of stuff that go against regulations. You just get away with it because it works.”

“And if it works, then clearly the regulations are overly onerous,” Newt shrugged.

“The rules are there for a reason!” Tina snapped, “honestly, Scamander, how have you made it this far with Starfleet?”

Newt leaned in so close that Tina could feel his breath on her face, and felt the temperature around her rise by several degrees. Tina tried not to think too hard about what that meant.

Newt flicked his gaze momentarily to Tina’s lips before tearing himself away. But still leaning in, he gave her a smug little smile as he murmured, “Ask Starfleet command.”

“You...you…” Tina snarled, before stepping back and stomping away. 

Newt watched her for a few moments before heading back down to engineering. Admittedly, there was something fun about riling up the Chief Security Officer.

Tina was still flustered as she met her sister for lunch. “Oh, Teen,” Queenie clapped a hand to her mouth with a giggle, “you like him!”

“I don’t know who or what you’re talking about,” Tina grumbled, “hot dog, extra mustard,” she instructed the replicator a tad aggressively. A hot dog with extra mustard materialized, and Tina grabbed it and put it on her tray.

“Why, the Chief Engineer, of course,” Queenie giggled some more. Tina glared at her and took a too-large bite of her hot dog, as evidenced by her nearly choking on it.

Queenie shook her head disbelievingly as the sisters took a table with a nice view of Ajilon Prime. Tina chewed thoughtfully and eventually swallowed.

“I will admit,” she began, “that he is quite nice to look at,” but on seeing Queenie’s smirk was quick to clarify, “but he is rude and reckless, and has no regard for rules and…”

“I dunno,” Queenie shrugged, “a lot of epic love stories have started out just like-”

“Queenie,” Tina groaned.

“Well, I’ve got some news of my own,” Queenie bit her lip nervously, “Jacob’s getting ready to propose! I felt him thinking about it, planning it.” 

This time, Tina really did choke on a bite of hot dog.

“What, Teen?” Queenie frowned as she rapped her sister on the back to help her, “aren’t you happy for me?”

“I-I- of course I am,” she sighed, “and I think Jacob is just wonderful. But, just, don’t you think it’s a little soon? You guys have only been together like six months…”

“True love doesn’t need so much time,” Queenie said dreamily, as Tina rolled her eyes. True love was a matter on which the sisters had disagreed vehemently for years. 

“Look, if it’s what you really want, then, well, I am happy for you,” Tina squeezed Queenie’s hand. 

“But you’re still worried,” Queenie said matter of factly, as Tina nodded. 

“That’s my job as your older sister. You know that,” Tina said softly, “anyway, I need to get back to the bridge.”

“And my next appointment is coming up,” Queenie replied. The sisters got up and hugged tightly before parting. 

Tina had much to ponder as she walked back to the bridge. Luckily, she managed to spend more time thinking about Queenie’s upcoming engagement than about the other, patently ridiculous thing Queenie had brought up with her... 

The following day, Newt reported for his shift at the transporter room, along with a case full of instruments he’d been asked to bring. He was assigned to the away team that would be conducting the geological survey on Ajilon Prime.

“Ah, right on time,” Theseus jovially clapped him on the back, “our first away mission together, how do you like that?”

Theseus was the leader of the mission, and Newt was there in case of any technological problems down in the caves they were surveying, as well as for coming up with technological solutions to the problem they were investigating. The rest of the team was made up of geologists plus one medic, all in blue uniforms. 

The team all gathered on the transporter pad along with their equipment, and Theseus gave the signal, and in seconds, they beamed down to the chosen coordinates. 

The team navigated their way deep into the subterranean cavern. Newt held out his tricorder and kept a close eye on the readings. “We’ve just passed the point of being able to beam out if we get into trouble here,” he announced, “the ion interference from the metal in these rocks is too great. I’m going to set up some pattern enhancers, in case we need to get out in a hurry.”

“Right, you heard him!” Theseus bellowed out, “give him a minute to set up the enhancers.” 

“All clear!” Newt announced as soon as he had it all set up, “If we need to leave, you need to get into this triangular area. Now, moving right along…”

The geologists took their measurements and their surveys. Newt continued to take readings with his tricorder, thinking about all the possible ways to calm the quakes before they forced an evacuation of the settlements on the surface. All the while, the walls and floor of the cavern rumbled ominously. 

“Well, that’s going to be a problem,” Newt muttered as one geologist explained how the rock composition was somewhat different and more complicated than expected, “though I suppose I can modify the emitter to compensate...hmmm, let’s see…”

Another, larger rumble shook the cavern. Theseus turned nervously to the lead geologist. “I don’t like the feel of that, how much longer do you feel you need in here?”

“We really could use another two hours,” the geologist insisted.

“You have 45 minutes,” Theseus told him, “and if I feel it’s time to leave sooner, I’m giving the order.”

“Yes sir,” the geologist replied, before turning back to his team to bellow out orders to work faster. 

Newt was religiously concentrating on the tricorder readings, especially the seismic numbers. “Thes, I don’t think we have even 45 minutes, the seismic readings are getting increasingly out of control…” Another rumble shook them, toppling some people over and shaking rocks loose.

“Ten more minutes, please,” the lead geologist begged. Newt and Theseus looked at each other and nodded. 

The ground continued to shake harder and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep balance. Debris shook loose from the ceiling causing people to cough. Soon, a crack opened in the ground, and began to vent steam. 

“I think you need to give the order,” Newt coughed to his brother, and Theseus nodded.

“Alright,” he yelled out, trying not to wheeze, “we need to go, now! That’s it, there’s nothing more! To the pattern enhancers, now!”

Newt started hustling geologists into the marked area between the enhancers, and beaming them out in pairs. Theseus was farther down, extracting the rest of the team. More scientists came through, and Newt nervously glanced at his tricorder again. It was only him, Theseus, the medic, and the lead geologist left. 

Theseus was arguing with the lead geologist, as Newt and the medic waited for them. Suddenly, a sound like a speeding train came and an avalanche of rocks came loose right where Theseus and the geologist were standing. 

Newt and the medic looked at each other for a moment then both ran toward the avalanche as it swallowed up the two men. The geologist was knocked down quickly, but Theseus toppled twenty feet down, landing unconscious on a ledge. 

The geologist was conscious and groaning, from what were surely many broken bones. “I don’t think I can move him like this!” the medic cried out. 

“Grab the pattern enhancers!” Newt called back, “they’re already on, you should be able to beam him up if you can get them to where you are.”

He reached his brother, and stared in horror at his unconscious form, blood streaming from his temple. He looked over at where the medic was already moving the pattern enhancers. He just had to drag Theseus back up the 20 feet and then they could get him back to the ship, to help.

“Hold on,” Newt grunted, as he seized Theseus from under his armpits and began to drag him, “we’re coming.” More quaking made it impossible to move in a straight line, but there was no other choice.

About halfway through, Newt felt the burden adjust. “I got him safely set up, I can take a moment to help you here,” the medic explained. Newt merely nodded, as sweat poured down his face, making tracks in the dirt and dust covering it.

Another shake sent Newt flying backwards, and he felt the sear of a new wound forming as something caught his shoulder, but he didn’t dare loosen his grip on his brother despite the pain. He looked up and saw they’d been thrown right into the field set by the pattern enhancers. The medic ran up behind them shouting, “that’s all of us, now let’s get the hell out of here!”

Newt tapped his portable transporter device and beamed them all directly to sick bay.

It was pandemonium in there. Doctors and nurses looked like blue blurs, zipping around tending to injuries. Newt could hear Leta commanding her team in triage. Leta saw him and strode over. 

“Newt, you need to take care of that shoulder!” she cried out.

“You need to take care of my brother!” he snapped back, gesturing to his unconscious, bleeding brother at his feet. 

Leta looked down at the First Officer and immediately yelled for assistance. “Cortical stimulators! Inaprovaline! Anti coagulant, we need to stop the bleeding!” 

Newt staggered after Theseus, but a nurse held him back and steered him towards a table. “He’s in good hands,” she assured him, “Dr. Lestrange is the best...now, let’s see to that shoulder of yours, that’s a nasty wound, plus the tricorder here says some ligament damage…”

An hour later, shoulder restored (with just a touch of soreness that was supposed to fade in a few days), Newt paced outside waiting for news of Theseus. 

“Lieutenant Scamander,” a soft, honeyed voice called out, “would you like to talk about it?” 

Newt whirled around and found himself face to face with Queenie. “I...I…” he stammered, unsure of what to say. 

“You don’t have to if you’re not ready, but don’t forget, it is my job,” Queenie reminded him, “what happened today...stuff like this is why we have counselors on board.” 

“Right,” Newt murmured, then turned back toward the sick bay doors, waiting for someone, anyone, to come out and give him more news. 

“I can’t make sure your brother’s OK,” Queenie said softly, “but I can do what I can to help you be OK. If you want to make an appointment later, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you,” Newt whispered hoarsely, “I’ll...I’ll think about it after...as soon as I know…”

“I understand,” Queenie patted his shoulder lightly before heading back to her office. 

In a recovery room, Theseus Scamander began to stir. His head was aching something fierce and his body felt like it had been run over by a truck. He opened one eye and tried to ascertain his surroundings. Where was he? And where was…

“Newt!” he called out weakly. 

“Your brother’s fine,” a female voice assured him, “welcome back, Commander.”

Theseus’ vision came more into focus, and he could see nothing except for a beautiful face...the most beautiful face he’d ever seen...a Vulcan woman...Right, the doctor was Vulcan. So, he’d made it back to the ship after all.

“I need...to see...my brother…” Theseus insisted, trying to sit up.

“Oh no you don’t,” Leta chided him, pushing him back down, “I swear, it must be genetic. It is the only logical explanation. I shall have to run a full DNA analysis. You’re as bad as Newt!” 

“You...you know Newt?” Theseus was caught off guard. 

“We were in the same year at the Academy,” Leta explained with a fond smile, “and, since he’s been here, I’ve seen him quite a number of times here in sick bay already. Far too many for my liking.”

“Indeed,” Theseus chuckled wryly, “and I intend to strangle him for that, Doctor.”

“Watch it, Commander,” Leta laughed, “I get the feeling that I’m going to be the one strangling the both of you.” 

“Oh dear, you are not one to be trifled with,” Theseus raised an eyebrow, “and you can call me Theseus.” He flashed a charming smile.

Leta returned a radiant smile of her own. “And you may call me Leta. After you’ve been discharged, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I look forward to your thoughts and comments!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After picking up some new plants for the onboard arboretum, The Ilvormorny's crew begins to experience some strange effects...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is essentially a Sex Pollen fic. Everyone is equally affected, so there are no consent issues, and all the sex is only implied, as I made this T rated. Still, giving a heads up. If you don't like Sex Pollen, you can skip this chapter. It's just here for comedy, and as an homage to all the Star Trek episodes across the various series where something like this happens. 
> 
> Glossary:
> 
> PADD- Personal Access Display Device. Basically, a tablet.

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49375.6: thanks to a botanical exhibition on Mintaka III, we have added some wondrous new specimens to The Ilvermorny’s arboretum… _

“Off to the zoo, I take it?” Theseus shook his head with a wry smile as Newt left his room in civilian clothes. They’d both just come off a long and tiring shift. 

“And are you off to see Leta?” Newt teased back.

“Not quite yet,” Theseus blushed lightly, “she’s still got a few appointments left. But I will be picking her up in a bit for dinner at Ten Forward.”

“Well, enjoy then,” Newt patted his brother on the shoulder, “and yes, I am off to the zoo. As always.”

***********************

“Wherever did you come across an Alvanian cave sloth?” Newt chuckled to Bunty as the creature clung to his arm, not unlike the three toed sloth from Earth. 

“In an Alvanian cave, of course!” Bunty giggled back flirtatiously, sighing softly when Newt remained oblivious. 

“Of course,” Newt smiled, gently placing the sloth back in its enclosure, “now, let’s go check up on my creatures.”

“Thank you for letting me care for them,” Bunty said, “I do adore them all.”

“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Newt shrugged, “but it seems to have worked out for the best, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I certainly do agree,” Bunty smiled widely, twirling her red curls suggestively around her fingers as she looked into Newt’s eyes. 

As Newt locked gazes with her, a strange sensation suddenly came over him. First he felt a bone deep chill followed by everything around him suddenly growing unbearably hot. Every nerve in him felt painfully aware of his surroundings. Bunty stood before him, appearing to him as a glorious goddess, and his heart nearly stopped. He had to have her, and it had to be right now.

Bunty was feeling a similar sequence of sensations, and she reached out and brushed Newt’s shoulder. The light touch went through them both like an electric jolt, setting them alight with need. Newt wrapped his arms around Bunty possessively, and captured her lips in a searing kiss. They stood there, the zoo all but forgotten, passionately kissing. 

“Shall we take this to my quarters?” Bunty pulled away for but a moment to ask breathlessly, as Newt trailed searing kisses down her neck.

“I don’t think I can wait that long,” Newt groaned, “I think I shall positively die if I don’t have you right now!” 

“You’re right, I can’t hold out any longer either! The grass is as good as any bed,” Bunty agreed. With one last ardent kiss, the pair toppled down together into the grass, desperately tearing at each other’s clothing…

******************

“I have the security recommendations ready for the meeting with the delegation next week, sir,” Tina told Graves as they briskly walked down a corridor. 

“Excellent work, Goldstein,” the captain commended her, “now, we’re going to need to work on the seating arrangements. We can’t afford for anyone to get offended, or all the work in arranging these negotiations will be for nothing.”

“Understood, sir,” Tina nodded, taking note in her PADD. 

“Well, I do believe this is your floor, and you are off duty,” Graves gave a curt nod, “so, I’ll see you at 0800 hours tomorrow, then.” 

Captain and Lieutenant made brief eye contact as they parted, and both jolted as a rush of sudden cold, followed by sudden heat flowed through them. 

“Or, you could join me in my quarters,” Tina suggested in a sultry voice, as her heated gaze swept up and down over her captain’s form. How had she never noticed the powerful muscles beneath his crisp uniform, the just-so sweep of his hair, his angular jaw…

“Yes,” Graves panted, “your quarters. Now. That’s an order, Lieutenant!”

“Yes, Captain!” Tina agreed, pulling him roughly by the collar for a kiss.

They stumbled into Tina’s quarters, already kissing heatedly, moaning passionately as their hands wandered everywhere. Tina pushed Graves into her bed as soon as they reached it, before tumbling in after him... 

***************************

Theseus hummed a jaunty tune as he made his way to sick bay. “Well, well, well,” Queenie Goldstein’s voice floated behind him as she stepped out of her office, “it’s not every day we see our esteemed first officer out of uniform.”

“Well, I am off duty, Counselor Goldstein,” Theseus nodded politely, “where are you headed this fine evening?” 

“Oh, same as you,” Queenie shrugged, “you’re off to pick your girlfriend up from sick bay, while I’m off to pick my boyfriend up from there. Don’t worry,” she reassured Theseus as soon as she felt him wondering what was wrong with Jacob, “he’s just getting his annual physical.”

“Ah, well,” Theseus smiled, “and I suppose you also have a date at Ten Forward?”

“Where else?” Queenie giggled, “well, I mean, there’s always the holodeck, but we’re keeping it casual tonight.”

As their eyes met, a strange sensation came over both of them. Queenie shivered. A bead of sweat rolled off Theseus’ temple. It’s not like he hadn’t noticed Queenie before; he had eyes. But all of a sudden, she stood out like some ethereal vision, and nothing and no one else in the galaxy mattered.

“You sure are naughty, Commander,” Queenie murmured, but not at all offended. She wanted him too. Her eyes blazed with desire, as she drew her arms around his neck.

“Please,” Theseus whispered, swallowing hard, as Queenie covered his lips with her own.

Queenie wondered how she had never thought of him before...what luscious lips he had, and the intoxicating scent of him. “Oh, Commander,” she moaned as he trailed kisses down her neck, “I need you...right here, right now…”

“Whatever you say, Counselor,” Theseus smirked, pressing her up against the nearest wall…

************************

“Excellent! The picture of health!” Leta proclaimed as she officially signed off on Jacob’s required annual physical, “now you be careful on away missions, of course, I would hate to see you injured.” 

“Thanks, doctor,” Jacob nodded, “anything else, or are we done here?”

“We’re done,” Leta smiled, “and you were my last patient for the day, so I’m off duty now.”

“Date with our favorite commander?” Jacob teased as Leta blushed.

She looked up at him to reply in the affirmative, that she indeed had a date with Theseus, when all of a sudden, a strange sensation caused her to forget Theseus even existed. “You know, Kowalski,” she said in a husky, desirous voice, as she grabbed him by the wrist, “I don’t think we’re quite done here yet…”

“No we are not,” Jacob agreed, cupping Leta’s cheek before kissing her soundly.

Leta backed Jacob against the exam table and pushed him down. “I’ll need to conduct a very thorough examination, Kowalski.”

“Yes, doctor,” Jacob growled, pulling his shirt off and lying back, just as Leta amorously pinned him to the table…

As soon as satisfaction was achieved, the frenzied sensation dissipated just as quickly as it had come on. Leta and Jacob both froze as soon as they noticed they were spooning, and simultaneously squawked in horror.

“What the hell did we just do?” Jacob sputtered, rolling off the exam table and frantically searching for his clothes. Leta likewise jumped up as if she’d been burned and scrambled for her own clothing.

“I don’t know what came over me,” she murmured as she found her crumpled uniform and desperately pulled it on, “I’m so sorry, I...I somehow wasn’t myself...I can’t explain…”

Jacob, now dressed himself, if a bit rumpled, squeezed Leta’s shoulder and said, “I also felt something weird...like suddenly cold--”

“And then far too hot a second later!” Leta interjected.

“Followed by this...oversensitivity, I’d call it,” Jacob added, as Leta nodded in agreement.

“Yes, and then--” Leta started, but was interrupted by a cacophony of amorous sounds ringing out all over sick bay. 

Jacob was muttering to himself about Queenie, but Leta held up a hand to stop him. “If this is what I think it is,” she grimaced as they passed two of her assistants in a corner, “I would say Queenie will also have what to apologize for, so you may as well call it even.” She scowled as she realized this was likely true of Theseus as well.

“What the hell is this?” Jacob wrinkled his nose as they made their way out of sick bay, passing three more rutting couples.

“It’s got to be a pathogen of some sort, spreading through the ship,” Leta shook her head in distaste, “it’s the only logical explanation...Jacob, can I draw some blood?”

“I guess?” Jacob held out his arm, “if that’ll help you figure this all out.”

Leta quickly drew some blood into a vial and ran it through the computer analysis. “Nothing!” she smacked the table in frustration.

“I ain’t no doctor, but if I could make a suggestion?” Jacob spoke up, and Leta nodded. “Well, see, the feeling came on suddenly, and as soon as we’d, well, you know…” he blushed fiercely and Leta winced, “well, it went away as suddenly as it came on. Maybe whatever it was isn’t in our systems anymore.”

“You’re right,” Leta murmured, “that is… Eminently logical. We’re going to have to get a sample from an active case…” she bit her lip nervously and looked around. 

Jacob paled. They were going to have to interrupt one of the moaning couples. “Well,” he shrugged, “seems we don’t have a choice…” and he handed Leta a fresh vial.

Leta tiptoed toward a pair of doctors rolling around, but still mostly clothed, took a deep breath, and stabbed the closest limb she could find. 

“Hey, what was that for?” One of the doctors looked up angrily, before turning back to what he was doing.

“Nothing, carry on,” Leta said sheepishly, as Jacob doubled over trying not to laugh too loudly. 

This time, when Leta ran the blood sample, there were answers. “It is, in fact, some sort of fungal spore,” she noted, “and it has these aphrodisiac properties.”

“No kidding,” Jacob shook his head, “so now what?” 

“Well, I would imagine something like this is coming through the vents,” Leta surmised, “care to crawl through some vents with me?”

“I got nothing better to do until we figure this all out,” Jacob shrugged.

“Good,” said Leta, grabbing two tricorders and handing him one, “let’s go and save our ship and crew from utter ruin.”

*************************

Satisfaction achieved, Newt felt the grip of his desire dissipate just as quickly as it had started. He shook his head for a moment as clarity returned. Then he opened his eyes and found himself lying in the grass wrapped around Bunty. He remembered every moment of what they’d just done quite clearly, but could not figure out what the hell he’d been thinking…

“Newt,” Bunty’s eyes fluttered open as she smiled at him, then she bit her lip nervously. “I’m sorry if I came on a little strong,” she murmured, looking away.

“I assure you, it’s fine… I really need to apologize for the same,” Newt said softly, “I don’t know what came over me, it was like…”

“Colder than Breen, then suddenly hot,” Bunty interjected.

“Yes! Exactly!” Newt exclaimed, sitting up and pulling Bunty along with him, “and then, I can’t explain it, it was like every touch was…”

“Explosive,” Bunty sighed dreamily. But Newt was not feeling dreamy at all. Instead, something dawned on him, and he started feeling around the grass for his clothes.

“What is it, Newt?” Bunty asked concernedly. 

“The suddenness of it all,” Newt murmured, “and how we felt the exact same thing happen...this wasn’t a coincidence. Something caused this. I think I need to find someone in command, tell them there’s something strange going on.” 

“Don’t you think we should maybe talk…?” Bunty suggested. Newt knew they should. After doing, well, that, a talk was definitely in order. Newt sighed. He was not looking forward to talking about what he’d rather forget ever happened.

“We’ve got bigger problems right now,” Newt shook his head, pulling his pants and shirt back on and tossing Bunty her clothes, “there’s something loose on this ship. We need to figure it out and stop it.”

“You’re right,” Bunty admitted as they stood back up, “and, listen...well if you’d rather stay friends…”

“I...I would,” Newt bit his lip and looked away blushing. He felt terrible, but it was the truth.

“I understand,” Bunty murmured in disappointment, then gathered her composure and said, “listen, you go save the ship. I’ll see you back here tomorrow. This...this never happened.”

“Sounds about right,” Newt smiled nervously, “see you tomorrow.” And off he ran to find someone who might know what to do.

******************************

Theseus and Queenie stared at each other, feeling both awkward and horrified as they readjusted their clothes and the realization of what had just transpired dawned on them. 

“Counselor,” Theseus muttered, refusing to look her in the eye, “I really don’t know what to say, I--”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Queenie assured him, “nor mine. It was the strangest feeling, the cold…”

“And then the hot,” Theseus nodded in understanding.

“The sudden need…”

“And compulsion,” Theseus finished, just as Queenie began to clutch her head. “Counselor? Are you alright?” he asked, tentatively reaching out to her. 

“I’m fine,” Queenie insisted, “I’m just hearing a lot at the same time...oh God,” she murmured. 

“What is it?” Theseus asked, alarmed.

“Whatever just happened, well, with us,” she bit her lip and blushed, “it’s happening all over the ship...it’s everyone, Commander.”

“What do you mean, everyone?” Theseus raised an eyebrow. 

“Let’s just say you may as well stop thinking about how you’re gonna handle this with the good doctor, because she’s done the same,” Queenie winked and Theseus scowled. “In any event, something is causing this...I think we should try to find the captain. Or my sister, it could be a security matter.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Theseus sighed, “let’s go. Whatever it is, it needs to be stopped.”

******************

Tina groaned, satisfied. Then, the strange fever that had gripped her left just as suddenly as it had come. She looked over at the man laying beside her on her bed, and horror dawned on her as she realized it was the Captain.

Graves was staring at her with an equal dawning horror. “Ahhhhhh!” they both screamed and toppled off their respective sides of the bed. 

Tina scrambled for her clothes, and could hear Graves swearing a blue streak on the other side of her bed. Oh God, she was going to have to request an immediate transfer to another ship, there was no way she could stay here. Had she really just slept with her captain?!

Just as she finished dressing and stood up, she found Captain Graves also dressed, without so much as rumple, frowning at her. “Listen, Lieutenant,” he said sharply, “I’m going to apologize and we’ll just never speak of this again. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Tina squeaked nervously. Well, then, maybe a transfer wouldn’t be necessary. Hopefully.

“Alright, so...0800 hours on the bridge tomorrow. Because nothing ever happened,” Graves reiterated. 

“Yes, sir,” Tina murmured, refusing to look him in the eye. 

However, just as Graves was heading for the door, a voice came through on his communicator. “Lestrange to Captain,” Leta’s voice rang out, “you had better come to the arboretum. You’re going to want to see this. If you’ve had anything...regrettable happen in the last hour, I can explain it.”

Both Tina and Graves stiffened at that, and shared a curious look. Well, if there was a logical explanation, that did take a bit of the sting out of it. “On my way,” Graves replied to Leta.

He gave Tina a curt, silent nod, which she returned, and he strode out the door, to meet his Chief medical Officer in the arboretum, as requested. 

One hour later, all the senior officers sat around the table in the observation room, staring at a fern-like plant, sealed in a containment field, sitting in the middle of the table. 

“And, in conclusion,” Leta explained, “it seems this plant produces a fungal spore that causes, erm, amorous feelings in those who breathe them in, and these spores traveled through the vents, affecting all of the adults on board. There is much research to be done, but we’ll leave that to scientists at the Academy, who will be picking up our sample in the next few days.”

“Thank you, Dr. Lestrange,” Captain Graves commended her, before addressing the rest of the officers in the room, all of whom were staring sheepishly at their shoes. “Clearly, nobody is at fault here. I say the best course of action is to move on and forget anything that might have happened in the last couple of hours. Counselor Goldstein, I’m sure, will have lots of appointments in the coming days for anyone who needs that to move on. But I declare this chapter closed and forever forgotten.”

“Yes, sir,” everyone murmured in total agreement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts and comments below! I hope you all had a good laugh with this one, I certainly did!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ilvermorny is observing a rare phenomenon. Jacob has a question for Queenie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm off this week and got some writing done. As a reward, I have a midweek update :-)
> 
> Glossary: 
> 
> decoupler: a tool for making wiring adjustments
> 
> holodeck: a chamber that runs extremely realistic holographic programs. Used for both entertainment and for training simulations

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49384.2: we have arrived at the Beta Cygni system to watch a rare celestial event, as two dwarf stars collide. We anticipate studying the phenomenon over the course of the next week… _

“Hand me that decoupler,” Newt called out to Jacob, who was standing right behind him. He reached his left arm out behind him, so that Jacob could place it directly in his hand. 

He knew these latest modifications were pushing it, but the captain wanted to get as close to those colliding stars as safely possible, and Newt figured a bit of extra shield strength couldn’t hurt. 

“Almost…” he bit his lip in anticipation, encouraging himself as he pushed on, “that’s it, I’ve got this...Damn!” he swore as a section of power relay blew up in his face. He wasn’t hurt, just a bit singed. He crawled back out to regroup and think about what to try next. 

“I bet that wasn’t regulation,” a familiar, nagging voice rang out. 

“What are you doing here?” Newt groaned, turning around to face Tina. He did not relish being caught with soot on his face and his hair standing on end. 

“Keeping an eye on you, like I said I would,” Tina rolled her eyes, “because somebody around here needs to.”

“How about you stick to your job, and leave me alone to do mine,” Newt snapped irritably. 

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I left you to your own devices,” Tina snapped back, “besides, by the look of you, whatever it is you’re trying to do isn’t going all that well.”

“I’ll figure it out just fine without you breathing regulations down my neck,” Newt scowled.

“Have it your way,” Tina backed off, “although if you step another toe out of line, I have authority to put you in the brig.” With that, she turned on her heel and flounced away. Newt stared after her for a few moments before returning to his work.

“Now, when are you two gonna stop dancing around the obvious and get to it, hmm?” Jacob chuckled heartily.

“Whatever do you mean?” Newt grumbled, tweaking the cables he was working with rather more aggressively than he’d been doing before Tina had showed up.

“Don’t need to be a Betazoid to know what you’re thinking when you look at her,” Jacob grinned wickedly and Newt stiffened as though he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

“I will admit,” Newt said stiffly, “that she’s very attractive. But that is where it ends. We certainly don’t get along, what makes you think we could ever be...involved?” 

“I can’t explain it, but there’s a chemistry between you two, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it,” Jacob shrugged, “besides, we’ve got a betting pool going on you two.”

“A what?!” Newt fumbled and dropped his decoupler.

“Everyone’s been taking bets on when you guys are gonna finally wise up,” Jacob grinned mischievously, “and I mean everyone. Including your brother. Even the captain is in on it.”

Newt facepalmed and shook his head, “bloody hell, this is ridiculous. Why do you all care so much, anyway?”

“We just want to see you happy,” Jacob patted him on the shoulder, “I know you’ve got your creatures, but you know, there’s something to be said for humanoid companionship.”

“That may be so, but I really am quite content with things as they are,” Newt insisted.

“It’s just something to think about,” Jacob said mildly, “I’ll admit, I’ve got romance on my mind lately. I...don’t tell anyone, but I’m proposing to Queenie tomorrow night.”

Newt’s demeanor softened immediately. “That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, buddy. And I just want that same happiness for you, ya know?” Jacob smiled fondly, “you’re my friend. I want only good things for you.”

“I...I don’t know...thank you,” Newt said sincerely. He wasn’t used to anyone other than his brother actually caring about him, and he was touched. Decoupler back in hand, he got back to work. “Well, Kowalski, be that as it may, there’s work to be done. Here, let me show you how to bypass an ODN relay…”

Six hours later, all the senior officers stood on the bridge as they approached the twin stars, gas flames already commingling as they danced ever closer together. 

“We’re 4 million kilometers out, that’s the closest we can safely go,” Newt announced. He looked up and caught Tina’s glance from across the room, clearly surprised that he, of all people, cared that much about safety. Newt gave her a smug little smirk in return, and she glowered at him before turning her attention to the viewscreen.

“Full stop, hold our position, Kowalski,” Captain Graves ordered, and Jacob powered down the engines. 

Everyone stared, awed, at the viewscreen. A phenomenon such as this had never been observed so closely before. They were going to be staying for several days to allow various teams of scientists to conduct their research. But right now, at this moment, there was time to simply appreciate the celestial wonder before them. 

True to the plan, the Ilvermorny held her position all that night and through the next day, allowing teams of astrophysicists to do their work thoroughly. When the main crew came off duty, they all went their separate ways. Theseus and Leta went to Ten Forward for a romantic dinner in view of the stellar collision; Newt went to see his creatures, as he did every day after clocking out; Tina retreated to her quarters to read. And Jacob and Queenie met up on Holodeck Two.

Queenie was wearing a flowing pink dress that flounced out all around when Jacob twirled her in his arms as soon as he saw her. 

“Where to tonight, honey?” she asked excitedly. She knew already, of course, but she’d learned over the course of dating Jacob to let him speak for himself. 

“Paris, darling,” he kissed the tip of her nose, “you said you’ve never been.” 

“Well, then, Jakey, lead the way,” Queenie giggled, as the automatic doors opened and they stepped inside to the black and yellow grid. 

“Computer, begin Paris Program, under Kowalski,” Jacob instructed, and just like that, the grid melted away, and the couple found themselves standing in a holographic Paris that looked and felt exactly like the real thing. 

Queenie’s eyes sparkled in the moonlight as Jacob led her to a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the city, the Eiffel Tower right in the center of the beautiful panorama. 

A violinist serenaded the happy couple as they enjoyed a romantic candlelit dinner in the City of Love. Eventually, dinner was finished, and Jacob suggested they go visit the Eiffel Tower. 

The elevator slowly made its way up when suddenly, it shuddered to a stop. Then the lights flickered and went out. Queenie was about to ask Jacob if this was part of the program, but his thoughts were so badly jolted that it was obvious that this was unexpected. 

“Computer, resume program,” Jacob instructed, “take us up the rest of the way.”

“Cannot comply within parameters,” the computer responded. Jacob and Queenie shared a quizzical look. Jacob then tried, “Computer, reset.” The lights flickered for a moment and they saw flashes of the grid, but then it all stopped, and they were still stuck in the elevator of the Eiffel Tower.

Finally, disappointed that things were really not working out as planned, Jacob sighed and said, “Computer, end program.” Nothing happened. 

“Computer, show exit,” Queenie tried. Once again, nothing happened. 

They both tried their communicators. “Anyone hear us?” Jacob asked.

“We’re having some problems on Holodeck Two,” Queenie added. 

No one responded. The couple exchanged a serious look. Something was very wrong, and they were trapped on the Holodeck until however long it took for somebody to figure it out. 

Captain Graves was having a drink in Ten Forward when the ship began to shake violently. People were thrown about, and lights flickered on and off. Within moments, everything shuddered to a stop.

The captain sat up on the floor and immediately called to the bridge, “Everyone OK up there? Status report?” 

“Unsure what that was,” the reply came through, “we do have some injuries up here. You’d better come over here.”

“On my way,” Graves replied standing up, then made his next query to Leta, “Doctor, casualty report?”

“I’m on my way over to sick bay, we have injuries already being brought in,” she replied, “and all decks are reporting some injuries. Will keep you informed.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Graves replied, before making his next call, “Scamander, Scamander, Kowalski, and Goldstein, please report to the bridge right away.”

By the time he arrived at the bridge, Newt was already there, furiously working at a console to try to determine what happened, as well as the extent of the damage. Tina and Theseus were assisting injured crew members. Jacob hadn’t arrived yet. 

“Anyone know where Kowalski is?” the captain asked.

“He could be injured,” Theseus bit his lip nervously, “shall I contact sick bay to ask if they’ve seen him?”

“Last I heard, he had plans in the holodeck this evening,” Newt said, then tapped his communicator, “Bridge to Kowalski, do you hear me?” There was no answer.

Tina’s face crumpled immediately, “My sister’s with him…” she whispered hoarsely, “they must be trapped in there!” 

She turned to run off, but Graves sharply called her back. “You’re needed here, on the bridge now,” then, seeing the terror in her eyes, softened a bit, “we won’t be much help to them if we don’t at least figure out what’s going on here. As soon as we know, I promise, you can be the first one to try to extract them.”

Tina sighed heavily, and went back to her work, trying not to think too hard about how her sister was doing trapped in the holodeck. 

“Hey,” Newt gave her a small, sympathetic smile, “Jacob is with her. He will make sure she’s safe, I’m sure of it.”

“You’re right,” Tina admitted, returning the smallest hint of a smile to Newt. Now was one of those times where they had to suck it up and work together, so they got right to it. 

Jacob and Queenie sat in the elevator, all options thoroughly exhausted. “I guess we really are stuck waiting until someone figures out we’re in here,” Queenie sighed, “may as well make the best of it,” she gave Jacob a meaningful look. 

Jacob knew that she knew what he was planning tonight. There was no hiding anything from a betazoid. And Queenie knew when he was ok with her speaking his mind for him and when he wasn’t. He adored that about her. 

Well, the night was a definite bust at this point, but that didn’t mean he was going to forget about what he came here to do. Perhaps it was even better this way, a testament to being together through thick and thin, no matter what life threw at them. 

“Listen, Queenie,” Jacob started, taking her hand in his, “this is...not quite how I planned the evening out, to say the least. But we’re here, and we’re clearly not going anywhere for awhile, and, well, I want to try and make the best of it.”

Queenie smiled encouragingly and kissed the tip of his nose, before he went on. “I know you already know everything in my mind, but I still need to say it aloud. I love you, Queenie. Ever since we first met on this ship last year, I was drawn to you. And since we’ve been together, it’s been, well, just a dream come true. And I want to stay along for the entire crazy ride. Right up to getting stuck in the holographic Eiffel Tower’s elevator.”

Both he and Queenie chuckled together at that, and then, Jacob stood up, only to get down on one knee, holding out a small velvet box. “As I said, I love you Queenie. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”

“Of course, Jacob!” Queenie squealed, pulling him up so that they could share a passionate kiss. “You know,” she smiled at him between kisses, “I think I like this one better than if we had made it to the top. This is quite a proposal to remember!”

“It'll be quite a story for our kids,” Jacob agreed.

“Our kids…” Queenie sighed dreamily, “it’s really happening! We’re getting married, starting a life together, maybe having kids one day…”

“And I can’t wait for all of it!” Jacob smiled wide enough to burst and kissed Queenie again, “well, as soon as we get out of here. Gonna have to start with that.”

“Oh, I’m sure we will, Queenie nuzzled against her newly minted fiance’s shoulder, “sooner or later, they’ve got to figure out we’re stuck in here…”

Over on the bridge, Newt’s face lit up as the readings finally began to make sense. “I think I know what’s going on here,” he announced.

“Yes?” Graves asked, as everyone else on the bridge turned their attention to Newt.

“See, these stars, in the course of their collision, are releasing streams of irradiated particles,” Newt explained, “and our shields have been protecting us while we stay here and observe the phenomenon. However, it seems the shields have actually absorbed the particles, and now those particles have been jamming up the systems in here. But the shields are still holding, so we’re safe from the radiation. But our computer’s functions aren’t.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Tina crossed her arms in frustration, “we can’t lower the shields, otherwise we get blasted. Our engines are down, so we can’t get out of the way so we can lower the shields. Now what?”

“That’s the tricky part,” Newt shook his head and furrowed his brow.

“Is there a way to maybe vent the particles out, like you would excess plasma?” Theseus suggested. 

“There’s no way to know I’m getting them all out,” Newt explained, “they’re all over the place. I wonder though, if perhaps I could isolate one system in particular to flush out. Such as, say, the impulse drive. If I could do that, then we could at least move out of range. Then drop the shields and the rest should follow.”

“Well, then, do that,” Captain Graves ordered.

“Already on it, sir,” Newt replied, punching away furiously at the console. At one point, he pried a vent open and crawled inside. After a very tense hour, he finally triumphantly announced, “I’ve got the impulse engines back online. Warp is still down, but at least we can move.”

“Alright, ensign, take us out of here,” Graves ordered the young ensign at the helm, “full impulse. How far do we have to go before it’s safe to drop the shields?”

“Put another couple million kilometers distance between us, I’d say,” Newt answered. 

“Good,” Graves nodded, “we’ll do that. Now, maybe you can go take care of the holodecks? You may accompany him, Goldstein.” 

When Newt and Tina arrived at the doors of Holodeck Two, Newt got straight to work. For once, Tina had nothing to say to him. She trusted that he knew what he was doing and did everything he asked of her while he worked on ending the program and setting the trapped couple free. 

Still stuck in the holographic elevator, Queenie rested her head in Jacob’s lap, while Jacob sat with his back to the wall dozing slightly. Suddenly, he felt his communicator crackling. He bolted upright. 

“Queenie!” he shook her awake, “my communicator! It’s making crackling sounds! I think it’s reconnecting!” 

Sure enough, a moment later, Newt’s voice came through. “Kowalski? Can you hear me? Are you and the counselor alright?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Jacob replied, “you getting us out of here?”

“Hopefully within the next few minutes…” came Newt’s reply. A moment later, the elevator surroundings vanished, and Queenie and Jacob found themselves in the black and yellow grid of an empty holodeck.

“Program’s ended,” Jacob informed Newt.

“Excellent, as it should be,” Newt said, “now give me another moment for the door, it seems we’re going to have to do this manually…”

“Understood,” said Jacob. 

Newt affixed the magnetic opener to the top of the door, then he and Tina pushed and pulled together with all their might until finally, the door gave way, and opened enough to let the couple out.

“Thank you, thank you!” Queenie squealed as she bounded out, kissing Newt on the cheek, then leaping into Tina’s embrace. Jacob clapped Newt on the back as the sisters hugged.

“Thanks, pal, I owe you one,” Jacob told him.

“Oh, just doing my job,” Newt demurred, “though admittedly, having a friend trapped did lend the matter a bit of urgency.” Jacob guffawed.

“Well, now, more importantly,” Queenie smiled, stepping away from Tina and flashing her ring.

“Oh, Queenie, congratulations!” Tina cried out and hugged her sister tightly again.

“I’m glad it still worked out, then,” Newt turned to Jacob and patted him lightly on the shoulder, “congratulations!” 

“Aww, come here, you maniac!” Jacob smiled and grabbed Newt in a bear hug. Newt stiffened for a moment, then brought his arms around Jacob. He wasn’t much one for hugs (something his brother frequently complained about) but he was happy to do it when the occasion called for it. 

“So, celebratory drinks at Ten Forward?” Jacob offered. 

“I heard Ten Forward’s still a bit of a mess,” Tina shook her head.

“My room, then,” Jacob decided, “come on!”

He and Queenie led the way, while Newt and Tina walked together behind. “Hey, listen, Newt,” Tina murmured, “I wanted to, well, um...Thank you. Thank you for saving my sister.”

“It was nothing, I...well, uhhh…” Newt stammered, trying to find the right words, before just settling on the simplest ones, “you’re welcome.”

They shared a quick glance, both smiling shyly before looking away and blushing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for Queenie and Jacob? Bets on how long for Newt and Tina?
> 
> Please share your thoughts below!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob and Queenie's wedding. But not before a slight issue by the Neutral Zone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glossary:
> 
> Neutral Zone: a strip of neutral space along the border between the Federation and the Romulan Empire
> 
> Klingon: a humanoid species or warriors with a strict code of honor. In the original series they were enemies of the Federation but in the later series they had a treaty (though still weren't always so friendly)
> 
> p'tak: a Klingon insult
> 
> Romulan: a humanoid species that shares a common ancestor with the Vulcans. Unlike the Vulcans, they are more emotional, less peaceful, and are at war with the Federation. 
> 
> cloaking: Klingons and Romulans and some other species have cloaking technology, which allows them to make their ships invisible, an obvious advantage. however, they cannot shoot while cloaked, so they have to decloak if they want to use weapons. The Federation does not have cloaking technology.

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49402.6: With reports of skirmishes between Federation outposts and Romulan soldiers in the neutral zone, esteemed Klingon ambassador, Kama, will be aboard for the next several days… _

“It’s a very delicate situation,” Kama shook his head in frustration, the prominent ridges on his forehead wrinkling even more, “I mean just keeping my own people in check...the Klingon Empire would like nothing more than to simply storm the Neutral Zone and be done with those Romulan  _ p’tak. _ ”

“And the Federation is not up for another war,” Graves rubbed his temples, “as you’ve probably heard, our ceasefire with the Cardassians has been very shaky lately.”

“Well, the good news is, the Romulans and the Cardassians hate each other more than they hate the Federation and the Klingon Empire,” Kama shrugged.

“Still, it won’t do us any good to have two agreements come undone at once,” Tina shook her head.

“Obviously not,” Kama drawled, “but I do believe we have a better chance of cooler heads prevailing if the Federation does the patrolling for now. The Klingon High Council is itching for another fight with the Romulans. I can’t make any promises for what might happen if we entrust patrols to my people.”

“Understood,” Graves sighed, then turning to Tina, “make the proper security arrangements befitting a trip to the Neutral Zone. And inform the Chief Engineer we’re going to need tune ups to both shields and weapons.”

“Yes, sir,” Tina replied, leaving to relay orders to the bridge and to engineering. 

“Listen, Kama,” Graves says warmly, now that the serious business was concluded, “I know you’re here for the next couple of days. We’re having a wedding aboard tomorrow. Doesn’t happen too often, so it’s always a nice thing to have. I’ll be performing the ceremony myself. Would you like to join us?”

“If the bride and groom agree to it,” Kama shrugged.

“I’m sure they will,” Graves grinned, “besides, it’s a mixed marriage. Gonna be both human and betazoid customs incorporated. Should be interesting.”

“I look forward to it,” Kama gave a curt nod, and left for his quarters. 

The next morning, Tina and Queenie were up bright and early, to greet their aunt in the transporter room. Aunt Lwaxana had raised the girls after the deaths of their parents, and they were quite close with her. Naturally, she had travelled out to meet the Ilvermorny so that she could attend the wedding.

The strikingly beautiful middle aged betazoid woman, already dressed to the nines in a shimmering, low cut turquoise gown, materialized on the transporter pad, and immediately scooped her nieces up in a big hug. “Oh, my girls!” she gushed, “isn’t it just wonderful! Queenie a bride! Come, let’s get you both ready!” 

The sisters hugged and kissed their aunt back, and the three chattered excitedly as they made their way to Queenie’s room to get ready for the wedding, which was to take place that afternoon.

Suddenly, Captain Graves’ voice came out, strong and clear, through the communicators. “Both Goldsteins, you’re needed on the bridge, immediately!”

The sisters exchanged a puzzled look. “Honestly, your captain can’t give you two even the day of the wedding off?” Lwaxana frowned.

“He did give us the day,” Tina said, “if he’s calling us now, it must be some sort of emergency. Come on, Queenie, we’d better go see what this is about.”

The sisters started off for the bridge, and Lwaxana followed them. “Um, Aunt Lwaxana,” Tina raised an eyebrow, “you can’t come to the bridge. Only senior personnel-”

“The hell I can’t!” Lwaxana interjected, following her girls into the turbolift, “I am going to have a word with your captain, about calling you into work on the day of your sister’s wedding! I can’t imagine what kind of emergency could justify that!”

The doors opened and all three women walked out onto the bridge, Lwaxana still ranting about the injustice of it all.

“I’m sorry captain, I tried to tell her she wasn’t allowed, but as you can see-” Tina rushed to explain, but the stony faced captain held up his hand to silence her. 

“We don’t have time to argue, she can stay,” Graves told her, “we’ve got bigger issues,” and he gestured to the viewscreen. There, on the screen, was a trio of Romulan warbirds.

“They just decloaked a few minutes ago,” Theseus explained, just as stony faced as the captain.

A moment later, the turbolift opened again, and this time Newt walked onto the bridge. “You called, sir?” 

“We have some company here,” Theseus said grimly, gesturing to the warbirds. Newt nodded and took up his place by the weapons array. 

“Kowalski, hail the lead ship,” Graves ordered. 

“Aye, sir,” Jacob nodded and hailed, “they’re answering our hail, sir.”

“On screen,” Graves ordered, and there, upon the screen, sat a Romulan woman with shiny black hair and blood red lips. 

“I am Captain Percival Graves, of the Federation starship Ilvermorny. You are perilously close to our side of the Neutral Zone,” Captain Graves announced firmly.

“I could say the same of you,” the woman replied coldly, before adding, almost as an afterthought, “Commander Vinda Rosier.”

“Well, Commander Rosier,” Graves said boldly, and without a hint of wavering, “almost is only almost, and as such, we are still on our respective sides here.”

“So we are,” Rosier gave a curt nod.

“Perhaps we ought to stay on our respective sides,” said Graves. 

“Perhaps we should,” Rosier mimicked, “though I remain unimpressed by the Federation’s recent increased activity in this sector.” 

“And I am thoroughly unimpressed by some of the recent reports I’ve heard about Romulan military exercises carried out in this sector,” Graves countered, “but, for today, neither of us has reason to shoot. Don’t give me one.”

“And so we all live another day,” Rosier smiled icily, “but we are here. And we are watching.” With that, she disconnected the call. 

“She won’t shoot,” Queenie stated confidently as soon as Graves turned to look at her, “she meant exactly what she said. Maybe next time, but not today.” 

“Well, then, I suppose we’d best back away,” Graves ordered.

“Oh, captain,” Lwaxana simpered, throwing her arms around the captain, “so brave, so decisive, so--”

“Who the hell are you?!” Graves snapped, at the same time that Tina came flying over to pry her aunt off the captain.

“I’m so sorry about my aunt, sir, some betazoid women, especially at her age can be a little--” she rambled while Queenie held back a giggle.

“Tina Goldstein, it is not your business to interfere with my love life!” Lwaxana demanded.

“You can’t just drape yourself over the captain while he’s on duty!” Tina hissed.

“I’m sure the captain can speak for himself,” Lwaxana simpered, batting her eyelashes at Graves while he shifted uncomfortably. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be able to read minds?” he grumbled in annoyance.

“Of course, dear captain, and you don’t want us here now,” Lwaxana patted his shoulder, “we’ll see you at the wedding later, now come on, girls.”

The sisters followed their aunt out of the room, with Tina casting one more extremely apologetic glance at the captain, who nodded in understanding. 

“Them betazoid women do come on a bit strong, don’t they?” Jacob teased.

“You’re the stronger man for agreeing to marry one,” Graves grumbled, as the rest of the crew chuckled, “good luck with that.”

Four hours later, the senior staff, dressed in their formal uniforms, clapped politely as Captain Graves pronounced Jacob and Queenie married and the elated couple kissed passionately. 

As the guests milled about the reception, Tina stood off to the side. Aunt Lwaxana was still chasing the clearly uncomfortable captain, while also loudly complaining that the couple had chosen to forgo the betazoid custom of everyone attending the wedding naked.

Eventually, the captain managed to escape Lwaxana’s attentions, which meant that Tina was the next target. “Well, now, with Queenie out of the way, it’s time to focus on finding YOU a man,” Lwaxana announced as she appeared at her niece’s side. 

“I love you, auntie, but you know my stance on the matter,” Tina huffed affectionately.

“You only think you have no need of a man,” Lwaxana argued fervently, “but all women do…”

“Not in the 24th century, they don’t,” Tina insisted, “and I’m not against matrimony, if things work out that way. But I certainly have no need for it.”

“What about that handsome fellow, over there?” Lwaxana inclined her head toward the other side of the dance floor.

“Are you really going to start working on my wedding while we’re still at my sister’s wedding?” Tina scoffed, not even looking up.

“What can I say, he seems to be as averse to dancing as you are. A commonality,” Lwaxana teased, “I’m certainly not going to try with that grumpy Klingon, and this human is quite nice to look at. Come on why don’t you--”

At that moment, Tina looked up to see just who her aunt was trying to set her up with and immediately interjected, “Oh no, not him! Anyone but him!” 

Lwaxana raised an eyebrow, and Tina withered under her piercing gaze. Of course, like her sister, her aunt was fully telepathic, and would know immediately that for all her complaining, Tina did, admittedly, have a crush on Newt.

“Oh Tina, this wedding is not ending until you dance with him!” Lwaxana insisted, grabbing her protesting niece by the arm, and dragging her right over to Newt. 

“Hello, dear,” she batted her eyelashes at Newt, who, having already seen the woman before him go after the captain, immediately froze like a deer in headlights. 

“Don’t be silly, dear, I’m after you for Tina,” Lwaxana assured him. Both Newt and Tina blushed crimson and looked away. “Aren’t you two precious…” Lwaxana crooned, trying to push them closer together as they both struggled against her, “besides, I’m effectively the mother of the bride here, and if I tell two people to dance at this wedding, they have to.”

Newt, if he was being honest, rather did like the idea of dancing with Tina. If it was betazoid custom, well, who was he to argue? He took a step toward Tina. “You don’t have to,” she insisted, still looking at the floor.

“I want to,” Newt said softly, glancing nervously at Lwaxana, who winked devilishly before flouncing away to chase the captain again. Newt looked back at Tina, “that is, if you’re alright with it.” 

“I guess,” Tina shrugged, still not looking up.

“Well, you don’t have to if you’d really rather not,” Newt muttered, stepping back again, slightly wounded.

“No, I...it’s fine,” Tina rambled, “besides, neither of us will hear the end of it from Aunt Lwaxana if we don’t.”

Newt smiled radiantly as he nodded and offered his hand again and Tina took it. He led her out to the dance floor and wrapped an arm around her waist. He looked into her eyes for a split second before tearing himself away, knowing he’d be forever gone if he kept gazing... 

Tina’s heart pumped rapidly as Newt steered her across the floor, while she continued to remind herself it didn’t mean anything. He was a crush. An inconvenient one, at that. She wasn’t supposed to think too hard about this…

The music stopped, and after one more beat, the pair let go of each other. They stared at each other breathlessly for a moment before parting, both insisting to themselves that it was just one friendly dance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jacob and Queenie are married! Tina and Newt inch closer to where we want them! 
> 
> Please share your thoughts below and see you next week! (Or sooner if I have another good spurt of writing ;-) )


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions are heating up with both the Romulans and the Cardassians.   
> Theseus has a question for Leta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today we finally meet Dumbledore and Grindelwald!
> 
> Glossary: 
> 
> Disruptor- a type of weapon, similar to a phaser. Generally the type of weapons that enemies of the Federation use
> 
> Cardassians- species with a major military culture and wide ranging empire. Most widely known for their genocide against another species called the Bajorans. 
> 
> Prime Directive- the guiding principle of Starfleet and the Federation. Among other things, they do not interfere in the culture or politics of non-federation entities. As you can imagine, this brings up lots of ethical questions and debates about the limits of this principle. 
> 
> biogenic weapon- a weapon that causes no damage to structures, only to life forms. Basically the futuristic equivalent of biological warfare. 
> 
> Demilitarized Zone (or DMZ)- a zone between Cardassian and Federation space where no one is allowed to fight. There were some colonies along this planet that ended up essentially in no-man's-land that become a major political issue.

_ Three years ago _

Albus Dumbledore hummed against Gellert Grindelwald’s chest in the bed they shared. Too soon, they were going to have to get up and go about their day pretending that what happened between them here, in this room, whenever they could manage it, didn’t exist. But for now, he could enjoy the steady rhythm of Gellert’s heartbeat. 

Besides, soon, they wouldn’t have to hide anymore. If the treaty worked out, there would no longer be a stigma against Cardassians and Federation citizens being involved with each other. They would be free to love who they wanted…

Dumbledore’s alarm went off. He was going to have to beam back to the ship that had brought him here before the Federation delegation he was a part of noticed he’d left, or before a Cardassian other than his boyfriend noticed a Vulcan on Cardassia Prime. 

“Gellert,” he whispered in Grindelwald’s ear, “Gellert, I have to go.”

“So soon?” Grindelwald pouted sleepily, pulling Dumbledore closer, almost greedily. 

“You know we can’t risk being found out yet…” 

“Hush, Albus,” Grindelwald crooned, holding him close, “just as soon as I take over the Order…”

Dumbledore pulled back, as though stung. “The Order? You mean, the Obsidian Order?” his eyes widened in shock, “you promised you were done with them. That you were backing Central Command!”

“Central Command is weak,” Grindelwald spat disgustedly, “they want to cozy up to the Federation and--”

“Cozy up?!” Dumbledore snapped, jumping out of bed and scrambling to get dressed, “I am part of the Federation, in case you forgot!”

“You’re not like the others, Albus,” Grindelwald started, grabbing both of Dumbledore’s hands in his and pulling him close, “you can come with me. When I command the Order, it will all be different. We’ll end the war, of course, but without weakening Cardassia. And we can be free...think of it, Albus…”

Dumbledore was shaking his head, horrified, and stepped away again. “We’re supposed to sign the treaty with Central Command in two days, the Order is supposed to--” he stopped when he saw Grindelwald pointing a disruptor at him. His hands were shaking, but he was pointing it, nonetheless.

“Gellert?” Dumbledore whispered, almost painfully. He wasn’t scared. If he was going to die, well, it was meant to be. Vulcans didn’t waste much time worrying about death. It came for all, eventually, whether or not you were ready. But the betrayal admittedly stung, even for a Vulcan. Was his lover really about to kill him?

“I won’t, and you know it,” Grindelwald murmured as he dropped the disruptor, “I do care for you Albus. And...I will miss you. But if you won’t join me in my plans for the Order, for Cardassia, for the greater good of the quadrant…” he threw up his hands. 

“You have to kill me,” Dumbledore stated calmly, “it’s the only logical course of action. I can tell the Federation everything you just told me.”

“But you won’t,” Grindelwald smirked, “for the same reason I won’t kill you.”

“I...that is logical as well,” Dumbledore had to admit. 

“You can call it logic, but I always did think you were rather emotional for a Vulcan,” Grindelwald murmured bitterly, “well, I suppose this is goodbye, then.”

“Goodbye, Gellert,” Dumbledore nodded solemnly, reaching for his portable transporter and energizing. 

“Goodbye, Albus,” Grindelwald replied, a moment after he’d already dematerialized. 

_ Present day _

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49432.4: A new threat emerges from Cardassia, threatening the ceasefire that’s been holding for three years. Admiral Picquery from Starfleet, accompanied by Ambassador Kama and Ambassador Dumbledore have come aboard to discuss the situation… _

“Newt!” Theseus hissed in his brother’s ear as they sat around the table in the Observation Room, at the meeting with the Admiral and the two ambassadors, “stop playing games on your PADD and pay attention!”

“What do they even need me here for?” Newt hissed back, “I’m just an engineer, they don’t need me for all this political stuff!”

“They called all senior staff here, at least act like the senior officer that you are!” Theseus admonished him.. Newt rolled his eyes, but sat up straighter and turned off the game on his PADD and tried to pretend to listen. 

“Romulans, Cardassians, they’re all the same disgusting  _ p’tak _ ,” Kama spat bitterly. 

“Now, now, we’re supposed to be neutral as ambassadors,” Dumbledore said mildly, with a hint of a bemused smile, “though I do agree that we’re backed against a wall here. Nevertheless, I personally worry more about the Romulans.”

“Yes,” Admiral Picquery cut in, “but now that the Obsidian Order has a new leader, the balance between the military government and their intelligence agency has tipped. This Grindelwald guy is a host unto himself from what I’m seeing.”

A chorus of assent was murmured among the others in the meeting. Dumbledore stayed silent. As a Vulcan, he rarely showed emotion, but right now, it was taking all of his energy not to show even the slightest hint that he actually knew Grindelwald rather more personally than anyone would ever think to guess. 

“Shouldn’t we let the Cardassians work out their own internal issues?” he suggested “I mean, that is the most basic function of the Prime Directive.”

“Three months ago, I might have agreed with that,” Picquery sighed, “but Grindelwald is no longer attacking just his own political rivals. He’s started attacking Federation colonies near the border.”

“I see,” Dumbledore said quietly, threading his fingers together in contemplation. 

“What’s more, there have been some very disturbing rumors of the Order working on a biogenic weapon,” Picquery continued. 

Newt’s ears perked up at the phrase biogenic weapon. He and Theseus shared a look. He now understood why he’d been called into the meeting.

“I would say that decides it, then, doesn’t it?” Captain Graves cut in, “I mean, the possibility of a biogenic weapon...we have no choice but to focus on the Cardassians now.”

“Exactly,” Picquery nodded.

“Well, this isn’t exactly work for ambassadors,” Kama raised an eyebrow, “so what did you bring myself and Dumbledore here for?” 

“There may yet be some diplomatic solution to all this,” Picquery shrugged, though she clearly didn’t think it was likely.

“But you prefer to prepare for military involvement,” Tina piped up. 

“That is our main purpose here,” Picquery admitted, “Graves, you are to prepare a team. We believe they are working on this on Athos IV.”

“That’s in the Demilitarized Zone!” Dumbledore interjected.

“Well, then, if they’re working in the DMZ, they can’t complain if we do too,” Picquery snapped. 

“It won’t be a good look if anyone from Starfleet is found there,” Dumbledore shook his head skeptically. 

“Spoken like an ambassador,” Picquery sneered, “my job is to think, and speak, like an admiral. Graves, you’re going to send a team to Athos IV, to seek out evidence of this weapon, and destroy it.”

Graves looked pale, and his brow furrowed, but he nodded in deference to his superior officer. “Aye, sir,” then, gesturing to the other senior officers in the room, “this is my team, right here. They’ll get to work on it right away.”

“Excellent!” Picquery stood up, “I understand there will need to be some training exercises before you send them, but we need to act fast. Within the next few weeks. This meeting is dismissed.”

With that, she swept out of the room. Kama followed. Dumbledore shook his head, looking around at the assembled officers, particularly the two brothers, sons of his old friend, before following Picquery and Kama. 

Over the next two weeks, Theseus, who was to lead the team, ran relentless exercises in the Holodeck. Tina and Jacob were there as tactical experts, Newt, as the engineer, was to be the one to collect the evidence and destroy the weapon if they found it. A few other lesser ranked officers and engineers were coming as reinforcements. 

“Time’s up. You’re all dead!” Theseus hollered at his team, “Computer, reset program!” The rest of the team groaned and rolled their eyes. But there was nothing to say. They had to get their timing down perfectly, or else they really would all be dead. 

They ran the simulation three more times, before finally getting the timing right. “Good work. But this is not over until we can prove we can repeat it, with obstacles,” Theseus told his exhausted and sweaty team, “we meet again tomorrow to run through the simulation again. Go get some rest. Have a good evening.”

The team filed out, but Newt hung back with his brother, as he often did. “Ah, Newt, I’ve actually been wanting to talk.”

“I don’t think I can stand another moment of--” Newt started, but Theseus cut him off. 

“Not about that, not at all,” he insisted, “it’s about Leta. I...would like to propose before we leave on the mission. What do you think?”

“Oh,” said Newt, caught slightly off guard, then smirked a little, “I think you’ve been spending a little too much time with Jacob Kowalski. I believe he also proposed after only six months of dating.”

“Well, I suppose love happens a little quicker when everyone’s living together on a starship,” Theseus grinned, “except for you and Tina Goldstein, I suppose…” he teased. 

“If you still have that betting pool going on, Goldstein and I will be splitting a hell of a lot of latinum eventually,” Newt shot back.

“So you continue to insist,” Theseus chuckled, “but, this isn’t about you. This is about Leta and I.”

“Listen, Thes, if you truly feel ready to take this next step, then do it. I’m happy for you both. I think it’s wonderful,” Newt said sincerely. Theseus grabbed him up in one of his big bear hugs, and for once, Newt didn’t resist. He hugged his brother right back. 

And so, three nights later, Newt found himself waiting outside Holodeck Three, ready to congratulate his brother and future sister in law as soon as they emerged. 

Theseus rowed out to the middle of the holographic Lake Yuron he’d created for the occasion. Leta was breathless at the detail in this landmark lake from her homeworld, Vulcan. 

“Oh, Theseus, it’s wonderful!” she exclaimed, resting her head on his shoulder as he kissed her temple, “you know, as much as I adore my job, I do miss home sometimes.”

“Of course. I miss Earth just as much sometimes,” Theseus agreed, “but tonight, tonight is special.” He cleared his throat and looked intently as Leta, before beginning his little speech. “Leta, ever since I woke up to you that time in sick bay, you have captivated me. Everything about you, from your zest for life, your dedication to your patients, inspires me every day. I love you more than life itself, and I want to spend mine with you, and only you.”

Leta’s face had gone blank, in that classic Vulcan show of no emotion. Theseus pulled out a small velvet box. 

“On Earth, we have a tradition of presenting a ring, as a promise,” Theseus continued, opening the box to show a diamond ring, “Leta Lestrange, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Leta blinked. Theseus sat there, grinning fit to burst, still holding out the ring. “M-m-marry?” Leta stammered, “you want to get married?”

Theseus’ smile faltered, but he kept holding out the ring, hopefully. “I-I’m sorry, Theseus,” Leta backed away from him to the other end of the boat, then called out, “Computer, end program.” The lake and rowboat vanished, and Leta wordlessly ran out the door, leaving a crestfallen Theseus behind. 

“Leta?” Newt called out as Leta ran past him, not even looking up to acknowledge him. He was going to run after her, but then, a devastated Theseus staggered out of the Holodeck, still clutching the open ring box. 

“Theseus, what happened? Did you have a row?” Newt asked concernedly. 

“I don’t know,” Theseus whispered painfully, “it was all going perfectly, and then I pulled out the ring, made my speech, and she just...she bolted…”

Theseus hid his face in his hands as Newt patted his shoulder. As he walked Theseus back to his room, he started to think. Did Theseus know about Leta’s secret? He knew. In their time at the Academy, he was the only one who knew. By the looks of things, he was still the only one. And he wondered if perhaps Leta had run away from fear of having to share…

After settling Theseus into his room with a cup of earl grey tea, Newt quietly slipped out to find Leta. As he suspected, she was in her lab, working furiously. She always did that when she was upset. Just because Vulcans didn’t typically show emotions, didn’t mean they didn’t have them. 

“You never told him, did you?” Newt said quietly. 

Leta startled, but didn’t turn around. “This doesn’t involve you, Newt,” she said curtly. 

“I suppose not, but you did just break my brother’s heart,” Newt replied, “you can’t expect me not to at least ask for an explanation.”

“Newt,” Leta said warningly.

“If it’s about, well, you know…” Newt began delicately. By the way Leta’s shoulders stiffened, he knew that was exactly it. “Leta,” Newt said softly, “I know it’s probably terrifying, but I think you’re being unfair to my brother. You need to be honest with him. Let him decide how he wants to handle it.” 

Leta finally turned around, the smallest tear shining in the corner of one eye. “What if he rejects me over it?” 

“I don’t think he will,” Newt said reassuringly.

“But you don’t know that he won’t,” Leta countered. 

“You’re right, I don’t,” Newt nodded, “but you’re not even giving him the chance to think about it, about what it means. You have to tell him. You got this far with him, he needs to know. One thing I can promise is that even if he decides not to move forward, he won’t tell anyone either. Your secret will still be safe.”

Leta looked up at the sincerity in Newt’s eyes and nodded. “Take me to him,” she whispered. Newt took her by the hand and led her to Theseus’ room. 

“Thes?” Newt called out to his brother, who was still sitting on his sofa sipping tea and staring straight ahead, “Leta’s here. She wants to talk.”

“Oh now, she wants to talk,” Theseus spat bitterly. 

“It’s-it’s not what you think,” Newt insisted, “she was a bit...a bit overwhelmed in the moment. If you just give her a chance to explain...will you listen?”

Theseus shrugged noncommittally. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Newt murmured and stuck his head out the door to invite Leta in. 

Leta and Theseus stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments, neither knowing what to say, before Leta finally broke the silence. 

“I love you, Theseus,” she told him earnestly. 

“Well, you’ve a funny way of showing it,” Theseus shot back. 

“I know, I didn’t handle it well, but there’s, well, there’s something you’ve got to know about me,” Leta rambled, trying to explain, “you see, I’m not entirely who you think I am. It was a mistake to get so...so closely involved without telling you, but you’ve a right to know. I know you’ll probably not want me anymore after, but it’s only fair that you know. Theseus, my...my…” she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the moment, “I’m half Romulan. My mother was a Vulcan, but my father was a Romulan.”

She looked away, but she could feel Theseus’ shocked stare boring into her. “I--I understand if this means it’s over between us…” Leta started to say, backing away slowly, until Theseus grabbed her wrist. 

“Don’t,” was all he said, then he looked over at Newt, “You knew, didn’t you?”

“I--I did,” Newt admitted softly.

Suddenly, it clicked for Theseus. “It was Leta! Leta was the one you took the fall for, when you had that incident at the Academy! I always knew you were covering for someone...” Theseus cocked his head at his brother, as though seeing him for the first time. 

“Yes,” Newt admitted again, “see, I knew if she was investigated, it would inevitably come out, and she’d be ruined. Me, well, I knew there was a chance I’d evade expulsion, and even if I didn’t, I had other options. So, I took the fall. And I was right. You, and Dad, and Dumbledore stood up for me and I only suffered a suspension.” 

“I see,” said Theseus. Then he realized he was still holding Leta’s wrist, and she deserved an answer from him. 

“Leta,” he said tenderly, “I am rather taken aback, even a bit hurt that you felt you couldn’t tell me...but I love you. I could never not love you. I still want to marry you, Leta. If you’ll have me…”

“I...I…” Leta hesitated. 

“Is there more?” Theseus asked suspiciously, “is this about more than your parentage? Do you still not wish to--”

“I do!” Leta burst out, “I do want to marry you, more than anything! But Theseus, I don’t think you understand just what this means, my being half Romulan…”

“Of course I do, love,” Theseus insisted, gripping Leta tightly against him, “and I told you, I don’t bloody care.”

“Theseus,” Leta shook her head sadly, “there’s one more thing you need to know. We can never have children. Do you understand that? If we marry, there will be no children. I grew up having to hide a part of myself, in constant fear and shame...I cannot, will not, do that to another child. I won’t! I absolutely cannot have children. Do you understand?”

Theseus waited a beat, then squeezed Leta’s hands tenderly. “So we won’t have children,” he said. 

“Are--are you sure? Are you OK with that?” Leta bit her lip.

“I’ve always been on the fence about it myself,” Theseus admitted, “after all, though many Starfleet officers do have families, it’s extremely challenging. Besides, I’m 38. If it were that important to me, I’d have made more of an effort to have had them by now. So, is there anything else you’d like to share? Or are you ready to get married?”

“I’ll marry you, Theseus Scamander,” Leta smiled radiantly, “I love you, and I want to marry you!” 

Theseus picked her up and twirled her around, before setting her down and kissing her soundly. Then he looked up at Newt and silently mouthed “thank you.” Newt winked and quietly slipped out of the room, leaving the elated couple a private moment to celebrate. 

Theseus and Leta smiled at each other some more before kissing again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note that Romulans and Vulcans have a common ancestor and look very alike, which is why Leta is able to pass for a full Vulcan. 
> 
> Anywho, yay for Theseus and Leta working it out! Now it's just Newt and Tina left to figure out that they're meant to be together!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After weeks of preparation, it's time for the crew to carry out their mission to find and destroy the presumed biogenic weapon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you will like this one today. A familiar scene comes to mind :-)
> 
> Glossary:
> 
> Dabo- a futuristic casino game
> 
> Bajoran- people from the planet Bajor. They were victims of a 50 year occupation and genocide by the Cardassians.

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49438.1: We have arrived at the edge of the Demilitarized Zone and deployed our team on this mission to destroy a possible Cardassian biogenic weapon. The team is traveling to the target site via shuttle, while we wait along the border for their safe return… _

“I’ll start,” Theseus grinned broadly. It was an 8 hour shuttle ride, and he was eager for some team bonding and levity before they had to face their extremely dangerous mission. “Never have I ever won at Dabo.” 

Three people downed their syntheholic shots. “Wow,” said Theseus, impressed, “hope that luck holds out tomorrow.” Everyone chuckled politely at that. 

Jacob was next. “Never have I ever violated the Prime Directive.” Newt downed his shot, to much sniggering. Theseus rolled his eyes, while Jacob guffawed. 

“Why am I not the least bit surprised,” Tina muttered under her breath, while her sister clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. 

“Why am I not the least bit surprised you would comment on it,” Newt shot back smugly. Tina crossed her arms in a huff, but gave him a small smile. She was used to his renegade ways by now, and had been a lot friendlier ever since he’d gotten Queenie and Jacob out of that malfunctioning holodeck. 

The other officers all shot each other knowing looks. Queenie gave a particularly wicked grin. The betting pool would definitely be growing that night. 

The group continued several more rounds. It was safe, after all, with synthehol. At last, however, the time came to rest up. Before long, they were going to have to put all their practice and simulations to the real world test…

The shuttle arrived at Athos IV. Newt, who was piloting, set the vehicle in synchronous orbit and prepared the transporter. Queenie was to stay on board and man the shuttle while the rest of the team was down on the surface. Within half an hour, the team had beamed down to the chosen coordinates, and the weeks of preparation ended as the real mission began. 

At first, it all went according to plan. They quickly and silently made their way through the underground tunnels, disabling every Cardassian trap they came across. They finally came to a door with an encrypted lock. 

Theseus nodded toward Newt, who beckoned over to two of the other engineers, and the three began to work steadily at decryption. Newt nearly bit his lip bloody as he focused on his work, but eventually, he found the key. 

“I got it!” he mouthed silently to his brother while flashing him a thumbs up. Theseus nodded in acknowledgement. Slowly, slowly, Newt and the other two engineers pried the door open and…

POW! One of Newt’s colleagues fell to the ground, hit squarely in the chest by a disruptor. Newt didn’t have time to try to help him, because three, no six, Cardassians were raining down disruptor fire on the group. He pulled out his phaser and began shooting back, while Theseus yelled out orders. 

Someone slammed Newt against the wall, and the next thing he knew, a Cardassian had him in a stranglehold with a disruptor shoved up against his head. He scanned his surroundings and saw out of the corner of his eye that Tina was likewise being held at disruptor point. 

“Drop your weapons, or these two die!” the Cardassian holding him bellowed out, and Newt watched as the rest of the team, including his brother, dropped their phasers. 

“Good,” the Cardassian nodded curtly, while another one gathered up all the phasers, “now, we’re going to take these two in for questioning. We’ll call in the next two when we’re finished with them,” he grinned wickedly. 

Theseus wanted to kick, scream, fight, anything as he watched his brother get dragged off. He knew full well what Cardassians did to their prisoners. He also knew that if he put up the slightest fight now, they’d kill Newt and Tina on the spot. No, he had no choice but to stand silently, while formulating a plan to attack the Cardassians guarding him and the rest of his team. 

Newt and Tina were dragged off to a cell together. Their captors handled them quite roughly along the way, though Newt knew this was only the beginning. He’d fought in the war, he knew a rough night was ahead, followed by torture in the morning. He looked over at Tina, and saw her taking it stoically. Of course, she was a security officer. She was strong. 

As they were thrown into the cell, Newt noticed Tina’s captor pawing at her. Tina spat in his face, but that only made things worse. He threw her against the wall, and began to roughly grope her. Newt couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Stop! Leave her alone!” he cried out, as he lunged at the Cardassian, “get your hands off her!”

Both captors turned their attention to Newt. “So, is this one your mate?” 

Newt didn’t even skip a beat before emphatically answering “Yes.” He knew enough about Cardassians to know most wouldn’t take a female in front of her mate. They would certainly kill him for it, as soon as they’d questioned him, but it would at least buy Tina some time. 

The guards backed off, and left the cell, locking it behind them. “We’ll be back for you in the morning,” one of them said menacingly, and, with a delighted sneer, “and then the real fun begins.”

As soon as they were gone, Newt scooted over towards Tina. “Are you alright?” he asked concernedly.

“For now,” Tina sighed, “although tomorrow…hey, Scamander?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you tell them I was your...your mate?” Tina asked.

“Because I know that Cardassians won’t take a female in front of her mate,” Newt shrugged.

“That’s...that was very gallant of you, thank you,” Tina murmured gratefully, “but now, they’ll want to…”

“Yes, they’ll probably kill me after questioning,” Newt sighed, “and they’ll...they’ll probably do what they want after that. No reason for that to happen any sooner, if we can help it.” 

They both sighed together, thinking how awful and hopeless the situation was. Well, Newt knew he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve, but it wouldn’t help without a more solid plan…

“You fought in the war, didn’t you?” Tina broke the silence, “that’s how you know so much about...about how they do things.”

“Yes, I was on Setlik III,” Newt nodded, “and the things I saw...we liberated a labor camp on there, you know, rescued thousands of Bajorans...I’ll never forget, this Bajoran girl...I tried to save her, but she was so badly malnourished and injured...she died in my arms. She was eight,” Newt whispered tearfully, holding out his arms as though still holding the dying Bajoran girl. 

“I was still at the Academy,” Tina explained, “the ceasefire happened right around when I graduated. So I didn’t fight, but I did go on a relief mission to a Bajoran refugee camp. I never dealt with Cardassians directly, but I saw the aftermath, I saw what they’d done to the Bajorans…” 

Newt reached out and squeezed her hand, giving her a small smile. Tina gave a small smile in return. “Hey,” Newt said softly, “it’s not over yet. Until they decide to kill us, there’s always a chance to get out of here. We stick together till the end, OK?”

“OK,” Tina nodded resolutely, squeezing his hand back, and then shivering. “It’s so cold in here.” 

“Cadassians hate the cold,” Newt explained, “so it’s an effective form of torture. The good news is, even 10 celsius is torture to them. While unpleasant for us, we’ll survive it.” 

Then, before he could stop himself, he opened his arms. “To keep warm,” he murmured, staring resolutely at the ground and blushing.

Tina blushed too, but knew it was silly to make a big deal of it. They needed to get through the night and this was the best way to do it. She scooted over and huddled against Newt as he wrapped his arms around her. Somehow, despite their bleak situation, she felt safe in this moment. Before long, the pair fell asleep, cuddled together, just like that. 

Theseus and his crew sat miserably on the ground all through the night, totally defenseless, as four Cardassians pointed their disruptors at them. The bodies of the three crew members who’d died in the shootout just lay there in the open.

He plotted and planned, but had no way to communicate his ideas with the others. Still, his brother and another officer were being held captive, enduring who knew what, and he had to do something…

“Can we at least attend to our dead respectfully?” Theseus asked the guard in charge. The guard stared at him skeptically. “Come on,” Theseus insisted, “you’ve got our weapons, we’re not going anywhere. They’re just lying here staring at us. Surely, you don’t want to keep looking at them either?”

Two of the guards looked at each other and nodded. “You may move them over there,” the guard named Krall pointed to a crevice in a wall at the opposite end of the chamber. 

Theseus beckoned to Jacob to help him. Krall followed them, pointing his disruptor at them the entire time. As they heaved the first body into the crevice, Theseus took a moment to whisper, “I’m going to attack...just follow my lead.” Jacob nodded in acknowledgement. 

They brought the other two bodies over, then, on their way out, Theseus whipped out the small Klingon dagger he always kept in his sleeve. Krall never knew what hit him, and by the time his colleagues noticed he’d been stabbed in the gut, Theseus and Jacob had divested him of both his disruptor and the phasers he had taken from them.

It was a struggle, but the team managed to gain the upper hand and soon overwhelmed the three remaining Cardassian guards. Once the guards lay unconscious, they were just huddling to talk about their next move when Queenie burst into the chamber.

“Queenie, what are you doing here?!” Jacob rounded on her, “you were supposed to stay with the shuttle! It’s too dangerous down here, you need to--”

“You’re not gonna get anywhere without me,” Queenie insisted, “I can hear my sister, which means I can lead you right to them.”

“You could hear them?” Theseus asked, shocked, “all the way in the shuttle?”

“They’re torturing her,” Queenie whispered tearfully.

Theseus gulped. “Can you hear Newt too?”

“Only a little. Because they’re together. It’s mainly Tina I hear, but I’m latching on a bit to Newt as well,” Queenie explained, “now, come on, this way.”

Newt lay on the floor, panting. He felt a small trickle of blood from his temple, but he knew the wound wasn’t large. He could see Tina just a few meters away, having her turn now, and her screams tore at his heart. His one shot at getting them out was that he’d memorized the corridors as they’d been led around, from cavern, to cell, to torture chamber. He patted his left sleeve, to check. Yes, all was well. Hopefully soon, it would be time…

Tina was brought over to him, trembling, but fully conscious, by two Cardassians. One of them left her side to yank Newt up, and soon, both he and Tina were shackled. 

“Your sentence has already been decided, you’ll both be moved to the execution chamber now,” he announced. 

Tina wept softly the entire way to the chamber. Newt tried to shoot her a reassuring look, but wasn’t sure if he succeeded. They arrived at a large, cavernous chamber and stood before a pool filled with some sort of chemical potion. Tina was yanked forward. 

Newt was surprised, he was sure he’d be the one to go first. He tried to step forward, but his guard pulled him back roughly. Newt clenched his fists to start the action. 

Meanwhile, the guard leading Tina to the chemical pool pressed some sort of device against her temple, and Tina’s expression immediately became vacant. Newt peered over to see what was going on, and suddenly saw images playing across the pool, like some sort of film reel. 

“Tina,” a woman’s voice called out tenderly.

“Mama?” Tina replied in wonderment. 

“Come on, pumpkin, time for bed,” the woman said. 

The Cardassian holding Tina sneered wickedly, as he escorted her to a chair inside the pool. Tina didn’t resist in the slightest, transfixed by the images playing out in the chemical pool. 

Newt watched guardedly as Tina’s happy childhood memories played before her. He felt his trusty bowtruckle, Pickett, crawling around his wrists and gave him a small, encouraging squeeze as Pickett unlatched one of the manacles. Newt took a deep breath, steadied himself, and…

WHAM! Newt whipped his arm around with the handcuff still hanging off it, and caught his captor in the face. The Cardassian reached for his disruptor, but Newt was quicker, and managed to grab his arms, causing the disruptor to fire on the other guard, killing him. Another shot hit the chemical pool.

At this point, Newt released another creature from his sleeve, something called Swooping Evil. It made quick work of two more guards, while Newt continued fighting off his guard, finally knocking him out with a well placed punch. The Swooping Evil continued to fly in circles. 

Meanwhile, Tina’s trance was broken. Newt caught a flash of a sickly Bajoran boy in the potion, and then the potion began to rise, corroding the chair Tina was on...he snapped back to attention, he had to get Tina out of there, right away…

“Lieutenant Scamander!” she cried out, now standing shakily on the chair, trying to keep one step ahead. 

“Don’t panic!” Newt called out. 

“Well, what do you suggest I do instead?” Tina snapped. 

Newt looked around for a moment, calculating. His Swooping Evil was still flying in circles. 

“Jump,” he instructed Tina.

“Are you crazy?!” Tina shouted in utter disbelief.

“Jump on him,” Newt insisted, gesturing toward the flying creature, then, in response to Tina’s continuing disbelief, “Tina, listen to me, I’ll catch you.”

Tina hesitated, still skeptical. “Tina, I’ll catch you!” Newt promised again, urgently, “I’ve got you, Tina! Go!”

The chemicals began to rise up in a wall around Tina, leaving her no choice. She timed her leap, hopping onto the flying creature just before the gap closed, then hopped again toward Newt. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the fall that was sure to come, but it didn’t, because Newt caught her, just as he had promised. 

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, as Newt clutched her tightly, then, they broke apart. He grabbed her by the hand, saying “come on!” then made some weird clicking sound to call his flying creature back to him. Tina had a lot of questions, but now was not the time. 

They ran through a maze of tunnels, still tightly clasping hands, and the flying creature followed them closely. It was a good thing too, as Cardassian soldiers soon joined the chase, firing disruptors every which way, but the creature shielded them, and even knocked out several attackers. 

At one point, it landed on an unconscious Cardassian, threading its long tongue into his ear, but Newt called it back toward them, “Leave his brains, come on!” And so, they continued running. 

“What is that thing?” Tina asked, panting. 

“It’s called Swooping Evil, native to the planet--”

“Well, I love it!” Tina cut in, before Newt could name the planet it came from. 

Suddenly, they ran smack into three people. “Get in!” Queenie commanded, as she, Theseus, and Jacob held up three pattern enhancers. 

“Energize!” Theseus bellowed out, and before anyone could respond further, they were all beamed away. 

Newt and Tina were still holding hands as they materialized aboard the shuttle. They immediately let go, slightly embarrassed. And then, the combination of the morning’s torture, near death, and then running for miles through a maze caught up to them as they both promptly fainted. 

“Kowalski, take the helm and get us back to the Ilvermorny as fast as you can,” Theseus ordered, “you, Goldstein, and you two ensigns, help me get them into a safe spot. We’ll need to tend to them until we can get them to sick bay.”

Everyone got right to work as Jacob zoomed through space, back toward their ship. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I am sucker for Protective Newt! And for I'll Catch You :-)
> 
> So, now when do you think he and Tina will get together...
> 
> As always, talk to me in the comments!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the failed mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I was very good about writing this week, and made some great progress. So here, have an early update! 
> 
> Glossary:
> 
> Ferengi- humanoid species from the planet Ferenginar. Their society is extremely capitalistic and misogynistic. Look out for this in the next chapter when we actually meet some Ferengi.

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49438.4: we mourn the loss of three fine crew members, and anxiously await the recovery of our Chief Engineer and Chief of Security following their captivity and daring escape… _

“Welcome back Scamander, Goldstein,” Leta nodded to the pair as they awoke, groaning, on their beds in sick bay, “you’ve both been through quite the ordeal. You’ll be alright, but I’m keeping you here a couple more days.”

After she strode out of the room, Newt looked over at Tina. “You alright there?” he asked softly.

“I’ve been better,” Tina groaned, “but hey, we’re alive, mostly thanks to you.” Newt blushed silently in reply. 

“Shame that after all that, we failed in our mission,” Tina sighed bitterly, and Newt nodded in agreement. 

“I’m sure there will be other things to try,” Newt shrugged.

“You’re right,” Tina nodded, then leaned over close. Newt stared directly at her lips and licked his own...then Tina ruined the moment by bluntly exclaiming, “Gnarlak!” 

“Excuse me?!” Newt cocked his head, feeling slightly disappointed, though also chiding himself for having expected something very different. 

“He’s this Ferengi who runs a seedy bar,” Tina explained, “and there’s all sorts of shady deals going on around there. He would know about any unusual shipments coming this way lately.”

“Materials that could make a biogenic weapon,” Newt concluded, as Tina nodded, “and he would be interested in helping Starfleet?

“He’s interested in anything he can sell,” Tina smirked, “he’ll help us for the right price. I should talk to the captain about it.” 

“Also, I--never mind,” Newt shook his head.

“What?” Tina cocked her head to the side.

“You sure? It’s nothing, something I’m just a little curious about,” Newt shrugged. 

“It’s fine, go ahead,” Tina insisted. 

“You can tell me to mind my own business,” Newt started, “but I saw something, in that death potion back there. You were hugging a Bajoran boy.”

Tina gave a sad, tearful smile. “His name’s Credence. I met him at the refugee camp, where I was giving aid,” she explained, “the Cardassians had tortured him horribly...I mean, they tortured all the Bajorans, but they seemed to hate him the most…”

“What makes you say that?” Newt asked, curiosity piqued. 

“I think there was something he had, or maybe they thought he had,” Tina shook her head, “even the other Bajorans thought there was something special about him. Like he was a fulfillment of some prophecy or something. He...well, he disappeared. Nobody knows what happened, whether he’s alive or dead. But he’s now a sort of martyr figure for the Bajorans.”

“Wow,” Newt whispered.

“I mean, I don’t know anything more than that,” Tina shrugged, “it’s been a couple of years now. I haven’t heard anything further. But I like to think he’s out there somewhere, just biding his time until he can come back home. Anyway, I think we should follow up with Gnarlak,” She let out a yawn. 

“Rest up,” Newt said kindly, “we can talk to the captain about the Ferengi tomorrow.”

“You’re starting to sound like Dr. Lestrange,” Tina teased.

“She’ll have both our heads if we don’t rest a little while we’re here,” Newt countered, “plus, she’ll keep us longer.”

“You do have a point there, Scamander,” Tina agreed, as she rolled over to go back to sleep.

Newt watched her for several minutes, thinking about the way she’d felt in his arms during their night in the cell, and then again when he’d caught her...he wondered if he might get the chance to hold her again. But he didn’t have too much time to think about it before he, too, fell asleep. 

The following morning, Leta pronounced herself pleased with their progress, though wanted to keep them through one more night before letting them go. Then, came the stream of visitors, first, Theseus and Queenie (being direct kin of the patients, they got priority,) followed by Jacob, and finally, the Captain. It was late afternoon by the time they found themselves alone again, and they were exhausted. But they were glad to chat amongst themselves as well.

“Listen, erm, Tina,” Newt started, looking at Tina for a moment before directing his gaze at the floor, “I can call you Tina now, right?”

“I would say so, after what we’ve been through, Newt,” Tina said softly, twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. 

Newt took a deep breath. He was almost as scared as he was when Pickett freed him and he had to make his move on the Cardassian guard. But just as he did then, he plunged forward now. 

“After we get out tomorrow, how would you like it if I--I, that is to say, could I, would you…” Newt stammered helplessly, “would you like to go to dinner with me at Ten Forward?” He blushed fiercely and didn’t dare look up at Tina. 

He didn’t see her smiling so widely that her dimple showed. But he heard her answer softly, “I’d like that. Very much.” Newt looked back up, his expression a mixture of shock and relief that she’d said yes. Then he broke out into a radiant smile to match hers.

“Tomorrow evening, then,” he confirmed.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Tina smiled shyly. 

And so it was, at 20:00 the next evening, the two found themselves seated in a lovely viewing spot, table for two at Ten Forward. Tina was even wearing a dress, something she almost never did. Newt, who rarely found conversation easy, surprised himself with how comfortably he was able to talk to Tina.

“So, did you grow up on Earth or on Betazed?” he asked with genuine interest. 

“Both,” Tina answered, “well, we lived on Earth, in New York City, until I was ten and Queenie was eight. That’s when our dad was killed in battle with the Romulans.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Newt said softly.

“It was a long time ago,” Tina said, with a small, sad smile and a sigh, “so after that, our mom took us back to Betazed to be close to her family, to help her raise us. Well, mom really struggled after dad’s death. She died six months later. A broken heart.”

Newt couldn’t help it. He immediately reached over and took Tina’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m sorry for bringing it up when we’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves,” he apologized.

“I mean, we’re on a date, right?” Tina smiled and twirled a lock of hair between her fingers, “we’re supposed to get to know each other. Anyway, it worked out ok for us. Mom’s sister, Aunt Lwaxana took care of us ever since. You remember her? From Queenie and Jacob’s wedding?”

“How could I forget?” Newt chuckled, “she is quite something else.”

“Oh yeah, she embarrasses the hell out of me,” Tina shook her head fondly, “but, I love her just the same. I’m sorry about how she badgered you into dancing with me.” 

“I seem to recall that I told you I wanted to,” Newt raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, you were humoring my aunt though, weren’t you?”

“No. I really did want to,” Newt said earnestly, taking both of her hands in his, “Tina, I really enjoyed our dance together. And I would love to dance with you again, some time.” 

Tina smiled radiantly. “We can do that right now. Wanna go to the Holodeck?” Newt smiled in affirmation, and hand in hand, they walked over to the holodeck area. 

Unfortunately, all the holodecks were occupied. “Drat,” said Tina, with a disappointed frown. 

“How about we go visit my pets at the zoo?” Newt suggested, “that’s always open to me.” 

“Love to!” Tina exclaimed, “you lead the way!”

Once Newt took her back to the enclosures housing his pets, Tina could see his general awkwardness melt away into full confidence. Around animals, he was truly in his element, even more so than when he was tinkering with the ship’s engines. 

“Why, hello you!” Tina patted the Cardassian vole who had wreaked havoc on Newt’s first day aboard, “glad to see you’ve been behaving yourself!” Newt chuckled fondly and brought his arm around Tina’s waist as though it were the most natural thing in the world. 

“So, where did you come across him?” Tina wanted to know.

“A souvenir from Setlik III,” Newt shrugged, “basically all of my non-Earth pets are from whatever planets I’ve visited. I’ve even picked up two new ones since coming aboard here.”

“Of course you did,” Tina shook her head fondly. 

“All within the rules, I swear,” Newt held up his hands, “they all live here, cared for by Bunty, the resident zoologist, just as Graves insisted after the incident with my vole.”

“I understand,” Tina said, taking Newt’s hands in hers and giving them a light squeeze, “I’m on a date with you, I think we can agree I’m not going to be arresting you any time soon.”

“That’s...that’s good to hear,” Newt smiled, momentarily flicking his gaze to her lips then looking away, blushing. 

Eventually, it got late and Newt walked Tina back to her quarters. They stood together in her open doorway saying goodnight. 

“I had a wonderful time,” Tina said, a light blush spreading across her cheeks.

“Enough to want to go out again tomorrow?” Newt asked, with a blush to match, “Perhaps we may even find an open holodeck this time.” 

“I’d like that,” Tina murmured, then, looking back up at Newt, added, “very much.” 

Newt reached out and tenderly tucked a lock of Tina’s hair behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek, and she leaned into his touch with a sigh. Newt flicked his gaze onto her lips for the fourth or fifth time that evening, wondering if he dared this time. They both inched closer, painfully slowly and hesitantly, yet still unmistakably closer.

And then, at last, their lips met. Tentatively at first, but then bolder. Tina drew her arms around Newt’s neck, while he wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her in closer. As they deepened the kiss, they stumbled across the threshold into Tina’s room and the door whooshed closed behind them. 

They continued kissing ever more heatedly, as they stumbled toward the bedroom. Newt trailed kisses down Tina’s neck as they fumbled with each other’s clothing, finally tumbling into bed as the last garments fluttered to the floor…

When Tina’s alarm went off in the morning, Newt sleepily pulled her closer toward him and tickled her with soft kisses around her ear and along her cheek. 

“Newt!” she squealed, “we both have shifts we need to get to!” But she nuzzled him right back and didn’t make that much of an effort to break free.

“I don’t want to,” Newt pouted, “I want to stay like this all day.”

“So do I,” Tina agreed, “but sadly, we both have shifts to make. Don’t worry, we have tonight,” she grinned teasingly, running her fingers down Newt’s back.

“I guess,” Newt admitted, “it’s going to be a long day…”

“We’ll manage,” Tina assured him, softly kissing his cheek. 

Newt replied by pulling her in for a long, languid kiss, before releasing her, breathing against her lips, “I can’t wait for tonight.”

Tina giggled charmingly, then playfully tugged him out of bed so that they could get dressed and ready for work. 

*************************

Theseus and Leta stood outside Newt’s door. “It’s not enough that you won the bet, you have to hound your brother about his date the moment he wakes?” Leta teased him. 

Theseus rolled his eyes and rang again. “Hmm. He’s never up before me,” Theseus muttered, puzzled. Leta gave him a meaningful look that he didn’t notice.

“Computer,” Theseus called out before Leta could advise him against it, “locate Newt Scamander.”

“Lieutenant Scamander is in Lieutenant Goldstein’s quarters,” came the reply. 

“That answers that,” Theseus smirked as his fiancee facepalmed in embarrassment, “it seems the date went rather well. I must inform Kowalski he’s won this time.”

“Wait, wait,” Leta interjected, “I thought you won the bet!”

“I won the bet on when they’d go on a date,” Theseus explained, “and then immediately started a new bet on how fast they’d move. And it seems Kowalski is the winner of that one. Come, love, I’ve got a busy day ahead, I’ve a winner to inform and a brother to tease mercilessly.”

“Oh Theseus,” Leta smacked him on the shoulder, “whatever shall I do with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yasss baby, finally some proper Newtina!!
> 
> Please share your thoughts below, and I'll be back with an update on Sunday!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina, Newt, Queenie and Jacob meet with a Ferengi bar owner named Gnarlak...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but the good news is, I'm nearly done writing up the whole story and officially moving to a twice a week posting schedule from here on out!

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49441.3: we are visiting Veloz Prime in search of possible leads in the search for evidence of Cardassian attempts to build a biogenic weapon... _

Tina walked into the bar, Newt following close behind. Queenie and Jacob filed in behind them. Tina was wearing a low cut, sparkly dress borrowed from Queenie, and Newt was definitely admiring the view; though they had spent nearly every night together in the two weeks since their first date, Newt still couldn’t get enough of her. 

He was also wary of all the other eyes on her (and her sister) in this clearly very seedy establishment. It made him nervous, and super protective of his girlfriend, even though he knew full well she could take care of herself, better than he could, really. 

The four found two tables right next to each other and took their places. Jacob leaned over and gave Newt a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “I don’t like it either,” he wrinkled his nose, “the way they’re looking at the girls here.”

“It doesn’t help knowing exactly how Ferengi treat their women,” Newt said sourly. 

“Hear, hear,” Jacob agreed, “let’s just do what we came here to do and get the hell out of here.”

At just that moment, a short, pale Ferengi came over. “Goldstein!” he called out with a smile showing his pointed teeth, “always good to see you, even if you insist on being dressed.” Newt sat up straight and edged a little closer to Tina, glaring at him, and clenching a fist under the table.

“Hello, Abernathy,” Tina gave a strained smile, “I would think you’ve met enough other species by now to know that most of us find your Ferengi customs rude and repulsive.”

Abernathy gave a leering snarl. The only reason Newt and Jacob hadn’t strangled Abernathy at this point was that they still had a job to do. “Well, what can I do for you hu-mans?” Abernathy quickly pivoted the conversation.

“We’re here to see Gnarlak,” Tina stated. 

“Gnarlak’s a busy man,” Abernathy warned. 

“We’ll make it profitable for him,” Newt promised. Everyone knew the most important priority for a Ferengi was profit. 

“I’m listening,” Abernathy cocked his head. 

“We’re only interested in talking to Gnarlak,” Tina insisted. 

“You’re gonna need to show me some goods before I drag him over here,” Abernathy demanded. 

Newt placed five bars of gold pressed latinum on the table. Abernathy scoffed. “Well, if you don’t want any of it,” Newt shrugged, moving to put the latinum back in his pocket.

“Wait…” Abernathy held up a hand, “you said you don’t want to show everything until Gnarlak is in the room...I understand there’s more...Give me a moment…” and he disappeared into the back. 

Newt, Tina, Jacob, and Queenie sat rigidly in their seats for several minutes, then Queenie whispered, “He’s coming,” a few moments before the man himself appeared. He was short, even for a Ferengi, and his overlarge ears had clearly taken some abuse over the years. 

Gnarlak sat right across from Newt. Queenie gave a barely perceptible nod, and the negotiations began. 

“You’re the guy who travels the galaxy collecting monsters,” Gnarlak addressed Newt. 

“I see you’ve done your research,” Newt said mildly, “I’ll state up front, none of them are for sale.”

“Oh no, I have no use for any of them,” Gnarlak bared his teeth menacingly, “though sometimes certain materials or compounds…”

Queenie gave Newt another barely perceptible nod, encouraging him to make an offer. 

“I have more latinum,” Newt started, “though I imagine that’s not quite interesting enough to really talk.”

“You’d be right about that, Mr. Sca-min-der,” Gnarlak bared his pointy teeth again, “the Order has more latinum than any small time dealer could come close to.”

“So you have had members of the Order come through here?” Newt raised an eyebrow.

“Patience, my friend,” Gnarlak replied, “let’s see what you’ve got that’s worth my information.” 

Queenie nodded and Newt continued negotiating. “What would you say about...one of these?” Newt placed a device on the table. 

“Nanoprobe?” Gnarlak’s eyes widened, before settling back into his menacing grin, “I got five.”

Newt glanced back at Queenie, who gave him another nod, to keep going. “Frozen Ashwinder egg,” he placed the item on the table before them. 

“Now we’re talking,” Gnarlak said, taking the egg in his grubby little fingers, “a lot of cobalt diselenide and trilithium resin been coming through here the last few months. Usually carried by Yridians, sometimes other Ferengi. Usually headed in the direction of the DMZ.” 

The four officers shared a dark look. That was definitely worrying, and did in fact point toward a confirmation of their concerns. 

“Thank you,” Newt said politely as Gnarlak got up to leave, “one more thing: Gellert Grindelwald. What do you know of his background?” 

“You ask a lot of questions, Mr. Sca-min-der,” Gnarlak chuckled, “that could get you killed.” 

At just that moment, they heard the telltale zing of a disruptor shot; disruptor fire could only mean one thing: Cardassians were nearby. 

“You tipped them off?!” Tina yelled indignantly as Gnarlak gave a wicked little grin. 

“Come on,” Newt grabbed Tina by the wrist as they both pulled out their phasers to shoot back, “we need to get out of here.”

Jacob charged towards Gnarlak before anyone could stop and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. “Sorry, Mr. Gnarlak,” he shrugged, not at all apologetically, while Queenie grabbed him back toward her. 

As the four ducked and ran, occasionally returning fire, Queenie managed to tap her communicator, “Four to beam up! Now!” And a moment later, they were gone. 

Once back on board, Graves called a meeting for all senior staff, during which the information was shared. 

“It’s still not 100% conclusive, but it’s pretty solid evidence,” Tina opined. 

“I agree,” Graves nodded, then, turning to Theseus, “Number One, please contact Admiral Picquery, I think it’s time to arrange another meeting.” 

“Aye, sir,” Theseus nodded, as Graves dismissed his crew back to their posts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts below! Next chapter going up Thursday!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theseus and Leta get married

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo hoo, time for another wedding! Congrats to Theseus and Leta!
> 
> No glossary for today (at least I don't think so. If something needs explaining, ask in the comments)

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49441.1: our last meeting with the Admiral has left us with more questions than answers. In the meantime, we are preparing for another wedding aboard… _

“Theseus is going to be so disappointed you can’t stay for the wedding. As am I,” Newt told Dumbledore as they sat together at the bar at Ten Forward catching up, “are you sure you can’t rearrange things? It’s only an extra day.” 

“I’m disappointed too,” Dumbledore smiled apologetically, “I’ll try to make it up to your family by coming to yours,” he winked. 

“Tina and I have only been seeing each other a few weeks, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself, sir,” Newt smiled as a faint blush spread over his freckles.

“Well, you know how things tend to go on starships,” Dumbledore said knowingly, “I’d not be surprised to find myself back here within the year, making good on my promise.” Newt blushed even redder, and Dumbledore gave a small, bemused smile. 

“So, is this urgent meeting of ambassadors Grindelwald related?” Newt asked, changing the subject. 

“Of course, what else?” Dumbledore shrugged, “he’s all anyone talks about these days. Between you and me, I think it’s a mistake to focus on him.” He cast his eyes downward.

“Oh?” Newt raised an eyebrow. Dumbledore kept up his usual serene expression despite the roiling emotions beneath. 

“I think we’re risking too much destabilization in the region by ignoring that there are others with a role in the problem, perhaps even our own Federation…” Dumbledore trailed off with a sigh, before turning back to Newt, “but I imagine, as an engineer, you don’t care to talk much about interstellar politics.”

“Not really, no,” Newt agreed, “though I somehow keep finding myself getting roped in anyhow. Being a senior officer and all that.”

“Yes, yes,” Dumbledore murmured softly. “You know what I admire most about you, Newt? You’ve never sought power or career advancement. You merely ask, ‘is the thing right?’”

“I...I guess?” Newt bit his lip, feeling confused about where this was going.

“It’s particularly important to keep that sense of right when you’re in Starfleet, always expected to go along with the regulations, no matter what,” Dumbledore expounded. 

“What-what are you suggesting?” Newt stammered, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. 

“Nothing at all, lad,” Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder, “nothing at all. Does...does the name Barebone Credence mean anything to you?” 

“No, I...wait a moment,” Newt shook his head, “Tina told me about a Bajoran boy named Credence, she hadn’t mentioned his surname. MIA, and presumed dead.”

“He’s actually alive,” Dumbledore informed him, “and he is in grave danger from both the Cardassians and the Bajorans. Newt, the Federation needs to be the first to find him.”

“I...shouldn’t he go with his own people?” Newt raised an eyebrow, questioning, “what would be the danger there?”

“Believe me, he’s better off with the Federation,” Dumbledore insisted.

“Why is he so important?” Newt asked. 

“You’ll find out in time,” Dumbledore patted Newt’s shoulder, while getting up, “I’ll be back soon, we’ll talk more then.”

“Dumbledore!” Newt called out frustratedly after him as he shuffled out to return to his quarters. “Oh, come on!” Newt threw his hands up in the air. 

Dumbledore was a friend of his father’s and a large part of why Newt hadn’t been booted from the Academy, and he remained, as always, maddeningly cryptic. Newt shrugged and ordered another drink. His parents would be arriving tomorrow, just after Dumbledore was set to leave. And then Theseus and Leta were to marry the following day. It was going to be very busy and exhausting for the shy engineer. He’d figure out the deal with Dumbledore after the wedding.

Sure enough, the Scamander parents arrived in full force and there was not a private moment to be had. Mrs. Scamander immediately took over what was left to do in the last day before the wedding, while the retired Captain Scamander insisted his boys take him around the ship, while he rambled on about everything and everyone he knew. 

Dinner that night seemed to drag on forever before Newt finally managed to slip away to Tina’s quarters. 

“Are they really that bad?” Tina raised an eyebrow while tracing the now familiar scars on Newt’s back, as they lay tangled together after finishing. 

“I wouldn’t say bad, exactly,” Newt explained, “they’re just...a bit much sometimes, you know? You’ll see tomorrow.”

Tina bit her lip nervously. “You think they’ll like me?”

“They will adore you,” Newt reassured her, kissing her forehead, “they might get a little intense, but they will love you. More than they love me, probably, they already love Leta more than Theseus, honestly.” 

Tina laughed at that. “Well, tomorrow is a big day, any way you slice it.” 

“Indeed it is,” Newt agreed, pulling her closer and nuzzling into her hair. 

Newt had to leave Tina regrettably early the following morning, as he was the best man. “See you later,” he whispered in her ear before kissing her temple softly. 

Several hours later, Newt and Theseus stood side by side in crisp formal uniforms, awaiting Leta. She arrived, a vision in ceremonial Vulcan robes, beaming, with eyes only for Theseus. The groom’s jaw dropped as his bride came toward him, and the best man smiled affectionately, while the groom’s mother cried openly at the beautiful moment.

Captain Graves, also in formal uniform, performed the ceremony, cracking a rare smile as he joined his two highest officers in matrimony. When he at last pronounced them man and wife, Theseus tipped Leta back and kissed her soundly, to much whooping and hollering. 

Newt spent the entire reception with Tina on his arm, and finally got the chance to introduce her to his parents. 

“So, we can expect to come back here in six months then,” Captain Scamander winked at Tina, causing her to blush right to her roots. 

“Oh, stop pressuring the poor dear,” Mrs. Scamander swatted her husband on the shoulder, “though we certainly look forward to celebrating the both of you when you’re good and ready. Hopefully sooner rather than later,” she added with a delighted smile. 

“I wonder which celebration will bring us back here first,” Captain Scamander mused, “Newt’s wedding or Theseus and Leta’s first baby…” Mrs. Scamander smiled fit to burst just thinking about two such happy prospects on the horizon.

Newt shifted uncomfortably. Evidently, Theseus had not seen fit to inform his parents of his and Leta’s decision never to have children. Which was probably the wiser course, as he’d never hear the end of it, especially from his mother. 

“Tina, shall we dance?” Newt made a bit of a show of asking, including a gallant bow. Tina giggled and took him up on it. Newt had been right, his parents, though very kind, were a bit much.

Captain and Mrs. Scamander took a moment to stand on the edge of the dance floor beaming, positively overflowing with joy at the knowledge that both their boys had found love, before taking to the floor themselves. 

The music played, all the couples, including the bride and groom, danced most enthusiastically, and the synthehol flowed well into the evening. At last, everyone gathered in the shuttle bay to wave the happy couple off as they prepared to launch for their honeymoon. 

Suddenly, Captain Graves came running to the front. “I’m really sorry, and I promise to make it up to you later, but we have an emergency on our hands. You won’t be leaving on your honeymoon today, I’m afraid.”

“What on earth…?” Mrs. Scamander murmured, though her husband, being a former captain, hushed her. 

“If the captain’s said something is up...well, such is life for a Starfleet officer,” he sighed. 

“I need ALL senior officers, plus the counselor, to come meet me in the Observation Room for a briefing immediately,” Graves ordered. The party broke up as people muttered their disappointment, but nobody dared question the Captain. 

Five minutes later, the senior officers sat around the table in the Observation Room as their captain delivered the shocking news. 

“Ambassador Dumbledore has disappeared, and Starfleet Intelligence has reason to believe he’s been kidnapped by the Obsidian Order.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please share your thoughts and comments below! 
> 
> Sorry (well, not really) for the cliffhanger. Come back Sunday to see what that's all about!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ilvermorny crew learns something surprising about Dumbledore while on their rescue mission...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! It's a short one, but action packed. Next chapter will be nice and long.

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49444.1: after nearly a month of constant alert, we believe we finally have a lead, and we hope against hope that we can at least recover the Federation’s most decorated ambassador alive… _

This was it. Weeks of intelligence reports, training, planning, and planning some more, and the top members of the Ilvermorny’s crew stood just outside the compound where they believed Dumbledore was being held. Leta was part of the mission as well, in case the ambassador required urgent medical attention. 

On Theseus’ signal, Newt, who had gotten through all the complex computer codes, pried open the door. This time, everyone had their weapons fully charged and at the ready; they were not keen on a repeat of their last infiltration into Cardassian operations…

On the other end of the door, they found themselves face to face with a young Bajoran man. 

“C-credence?” Tina stammered, fumbling her phaser and nearly dropping it. 

Credence’s face lit up, “Tina? Is that really you?”

“Hold everything, hold everything,” Theseus shook his head in confusion, “we can have a reunion later, but what are you doing here, with the Obsidian Order? Are you hurt?” He gestured toward Leta, who immediately approached Credence with her tricorder at the ready. 

“I’m...physically healthy,” Credence admitted, “but...I am not here of my own free will.”

“Well, we’re here to help,” Tina insisted, “and to get Dumbledore too. He is...he is here, isn’t he?” 

Credence started to back away. “I...I think you should leave,” he murmured. 

“Credence…” Newt reached out to him, but he shook his head and continued to back away. 

“You can come with us! We’ll get you out of here!” Theseus exclaimed impatiently.

“I appreciate the offer, but you don’t understand…” Credence said, his eyes growing wide and terrified, “this is so much bigger than any of you will ever understand…”

“Then tell us! Please!” Tina begged, “you’ve disappeared for three years, and had a whole movement building up around your martyrdom, at the very least--”

“I’m really, really sorry,” Credence shook his head, almost tearfully, “I can’t explain, other than to tell you, you all need to get out of here, before you make things worse…” With that, he ran away. 

“Do we go after him?” Newt asked nervously. 

“No, we need to extract Dumbledore,” Theseus said decisively, “and we need to do it before the boy alerts someone.”

“Why would he do that?” Jacob asked, puzzled, “he’s Bajoran, and he doesn’t even want to be here! Why would he help his Cardassian captors?”

“You saw how terrified he was,” Tina explained, “he may feel his odds are better if he cooperates with them.”

“Well, we can worry about Credence later, if we’re to find Dumbledore…” Newt prodded and the rest of the team agreed. 

They took up their positions based on their intelligence about the compound and began searching room to room for the kidnapped ambassador. They made their way down a long hallway of rooms, coming up empty again and again, until they heard voices through one door. 

Theseus gave the signal, and the crew burst in with their phasers drawn, as Gellert Grindelwald himself sat up in the bed, scrambling to cover himself with the sheet. Right next to him, also scrambling to cover himself with the same sheet, sat Albus Dumbledore. 

For the second time that day, the crew found themselves beyond confused. “Dumbledore?” Theseus’ eyes bugged out in disbelief, as Grindelwald smirked smugly. 

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Dumbledore murmured quietly, “Believe it or not, I am loyal to the Federation as always, but Gellert and I have...a long history.” 

Grindelwald slid his arm possessively around Dumbledore’s waist, crooning, “Our one disagreement...and yet, you always come back to me.” 

Newt faltered, not sure what to believe or what to do. Theseus looked wretched, but eventually sternly declared, “Starfleet is going to expect some answers, Dumbledore. And I think we both know it’s not going to look good for you.”

“I know,” Dumbledore sighed, sharing a long-suffering look with Grindelwald. They were going to have to part again, rather abruptly. There really wasn’t a choice, not with an entire armed Starfleet crew in the room. 

“Perhaps next time, we shall figure out how to reconcile our political differences,” Grindelwald pouted, kissing Dumbledore on the temple. 

Theseus, Tina, Newt, and Jacob stepped forward, ready to take Dumbledore into their custody. Nobody was happy about it, least of all the Scamander brothers, but it had to be done. The ambassador had been caught, quite literally, in bed with the enemy and was going to have to answer for it. 

“I’m sorry,” Dumbledore whispered, though whether he meant it for Grindelwald or the Starfleet crew was unclear. What was clear was the sudden whoosh of active transport as Dumbledore beamed away. 

“Dammit!” Theseus swore, “we need to go after him!

“Not so fast!” Grindelwald sneered, pulling out a disruptor from under his pillow, “while Albus was by my side, I was willing to show some mercy to his friends. But with him gone, I have no reason to keep any of you alive. And don’t think you can beam yourselves out of this one, I’ve already activated a jamming device.”

With that, he began to shoot. The officers shot back, and the shooting attracted some Cardassian officers to the room. However, they burst in frantically with news rather than disruptor fire. 

“He’s gone!” one of them shouted.

“Who’s gone?” Grindelwald snarled, still trying to fire at his enemies with a sheet tied around around his waist to cover himself. 

“Barebone Credence! Dumbledore took him!” 

Grindelwald dropped his disruptor with a scowl. “Why that son of a…” he murmured, then strode out of the room, still tangled in his bedsheet as his two officers trailed behind him. “We shall continue this another time,” he threatened the Starfleet crew before disappearing down the hall. 

“Shouldn’t we be going after him?” Jacob suggested, “I mean, we have an opportunity--”

Theseus held up a hand. “We’ve got to get the hell out of here. Newt, can you find and deactivate the jamming device?” 

“Already on it,” Newt nodded. 

The crew sat glumly around the shuttle as they flew back to rendezvous with the Ilvermorny. It had been a strange and surprising day that had left them with way more questions than answers. 

“Well, this is going to be one hell of a report to write up,” Newt grimaced, leaning his head on Tina’s shoulder. 

“You got that right,” she murmured in agreement, “And what are we going to do about Dumbledore? And Credence, for that matter?”

“Good questions,” Theseus sighed, “I think the best we can do for now is make that report and see what Starfleet decides.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some sweet, sweet Grindeldore today! And yes, they'll find their way back to each other in a few chapters, I promise.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts below! For now, next update is Thursday, but if I'm a good girl this week and finish writing this (got 2.5 chapters left to write) I may update sooner :-)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A transporter accident sends several members of the crew back in time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basically done writing this story, so I'm also upping my update frequency! Yay!
> 
> Also, I had soooo much fun with this chapter, hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49452.5: Starfleet has called a meeting at their San Francisco headquarters to discuss the latest relating to Barebone Credence and Albus Dumbledore. We have arrived at Earth ahead of schedule, allowing our crew a few days to take some much needed shore leave… _

“At long last we get our honeymoon!” Theseus beamed at his wife of over three months, kissing her soundly as everyone bustled around the transporter pad getting ready for their varied shore leave activities. 

“And you know, I think it’s for the best,” Leta smiled back, “the French Riviera is rather lovelier than our original plan.” She pulled Theseus in for another kiss.

“Get a room, you two!” Jacob chuckled, though of course he was holding Queenie tightly by the waist and nuzzling into her hair. 

“Now, now, no need to call anyone out,” Newt piped up, taking a break for a moment from snogging Tina in the corner of the transporter room while they thought nobody was paying attention, “we’re all in the same boat here…” he gave Tina a soppy look that she returned, while Jacob and Theseus both pretended to retch. 

“Alright, New York transport next,” the transporter operator called out in a bored voice, trying not to think too much about the disgustingly romantic couples taking over the room.

“That’s us!” Jacob called out excitedly, as he, Queenie, Newt, and Tina bounded onto the transporter pad, “Four to beam down to New York City!” 

“Right, ready, and energize!” the operator called out, and the four figures dispersed into energy particles. 

Theseus and Leta held each other tight, ready to step onto the pad for their turn to transport and to finally begin their honeymoon. They were pulled out of their happy romantic bubble, however, by the two most frightening words a transporter operator could utter: “Uh Oh.”

Theseus flew to his side immediately. “What the hell do you mean by ‘uh oh’?” he demanded to know. 

The operator’s face went pale. “I completely lost their patterns. They are not in New York. They aren’t anywhere. Their patterns are just... Gone!”

Leta jumped immediately to catch Theseus as he fell into a dead faint.

**********************

Newt woke up groaning on a sidewalk. He looked around for any sign of his three traveling companions, then tapped his communicator when he didn’t find them. It didn’t seem to be working. Suddenly, Tina came running around the corner. 

“Newt! Newt!” she cried out, and threw herself into his arms, “oh thank goodness!” 

“What’s going on?” Newt asked, holding her tight and dropping kisses in her hair, “what happened with our transport? Something seems very strange...and where are Queenie and Jacob?” 

Tina just started to say she didn’t know, when Queenie and Jacob came running from across the street. “Oh thank goodness!” Queenie exclaimed, putting a hand to her heart. 

“So, maybe the engineer can tell us what the hell just happened?” Jacob looked hopefully over at Newt. 

Newt could only shake his head, “I don’t know. Something strange obviously happened in transport, but it seems we did end up in New York City…” he gulped as he caught sight of the cars driving down the street, “or did we?” 

Jacob grimaced. “We’re in New York, all right, but I think we’ve left the 24th century…”

The four stared at the cars and the people rushing all around them. “There’s definitely been a temporal incident,” Newt bit his lip, as he took in their surroundings, “and I think the first order of business is to figure out where, exactly, we are.” 

“You mean  _ when _ we are,” Queenie chuckled nervously, “and how are we supposed to do that?”

“Over here, look!” Tina beckoned to a newspaper a pedestrian had just tossed on the ground and bent to pick it up, her eyes widening in shock as she read the date aloud, “today is December 6, 1926.” 

*********************

Theseus woke up to concerned murmurs around him, and once again, the horrible truth sank in. “Where is he?”

“Theseus…” Leta said softly, but Theseus was already sitting up and becoming agitated.

“My brother!” he demanded, “where the bloody hell is my brother?!”

“We’re working on it,” Graves assured him, “all hope is not lost…”

“You mean you’ve found something?!” Theseus’ ears perked up, as Leta gently squeezed his shoulder. 

“Not exactly,” Leta bit her lip, trying to think of how to explain it, “see, we haven’t found any of them, exactly, but we have found some interesting readings that indicate that they did materialize somewhere. Just...not here.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Theseus snapped. 

“Based on sensor readings, a rare temporal shift occurred right at the moment they were beaming down,” Graves explained, “so they arrived in New York, alright, but not today. They’re in New York somewhere in the past.”

“Well, it’s reassuring to know they’re not dead,” Theseus murmured, though hardly relieved, “but then, when did they end up?”

“So, that’s what we don’t know,” Leta sighed, “we’ve narrowed it down a bit. It had to be before warp technology was known to Earth, so before the mid-22nd century; it also had to be post Industrial, based on the readings we have so far, so they’re past the mid-19th century.”

“That’s three hundred years of possibilities!” Theseus interjected, looking like he was about to faint again. 

“We will find them,” Graves assured him, “we’re going to have to really sift through all this data, but we should be able to narrow it down. And I’m sure Newt’s figured out more than we have by now as well…”

“I suppose you’re right about that,” Theseus sighed resignedly, “he may well get them back here before we find them...Alright, so where do we start?” 

************************

“Well, I’m sure Newt can figure out how this happened and how to get us home,” Jacob said brightly, “right, Newt?”

“I have a few theories on how we ended up here,” Newt nodded, “but getting us home is not going to be so simple, I’m afraid. Aside from needing to figure out which theory is correct, we’re going to be limited in what materials we can use to go back...”

“I see,” Jacob said, deflating, “well, we have to start somewhere! I guess the first order of business is to figure out what went wrong so we can figure out how to make it right.”

“Actually,” Tina, ever the consummate security officer, interjected grumpily, “our first order of business is to find a way to blend in. Everyone here is staring at us!” And she was right. In their 24th century Starfleet uniforms, they looked extremely out of place in 1926 New York. 

“Well, that’s a problem I can solve a bit more easily,” Newt explained, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a bar of latinum. 

“What’s latinum gonna get us on 20th century Earth?” Queenie asked, puzzled. 

“Close enough to gold, I suppose,” Jacob nodded, “no one will know the difference.”

“Since when do you just carry latinum around for no reason?” Tina asked, relieved, but also genuinely confused. 

“You never know when you might run across a Ferengi you might need to bribe,” Newt shrugged. Tina knew better than to ask further questions. 

“So, first order of business, we need to get ourselves dressed for the part,” Jacob grinned, ready to face their time travel adventure head on. 

Two hours later, the four emerged dressed to the nines, the men in dashing three piece suits, and the women in glittering beaded flapper dresses with matching headbands and t-strap heels. Tina, who hated wearing dresses and hated heels even more, grumbled, but there wasn’t much choice. For however long they were here, they had to blend in. Although, when it came time to choose outerwear, Newt had inexplicably chosen a bright blue coat that was sure to attract attention. 

“So here’s the problem,” Newt explained, as they wandered aimlessly around downtown Manhattan, “I believe there may have been some sort of interaction between the transporter signal and a pocket of temporal shift that opened up just as we were transporting. A few seconds earlier or later and we would have transported perfectly normally.”

“OK, so I assume we need another pocket to open up, for us to go back through?” Tina asked hopefully.

“Well, yes, but…” Newt started.

“What’s the catch?” Jacob asked resignedly. 

“Firstly, it was a pretty rare type of shift; we’d have to make a manual one this time. Also, it’s 1926. What instrumentation we have on us is not going to work here to create another open temporal pocket. And even if it did, we have no way to transport ourselves.”

“So we’re just stuck here?” Queenie asked incredulously, “like, can’t you rig something up with the right combination of materials?”

Newt shook his head sadly. “At best, I can rig something to create a pocket, but a transporter is well beyond what I can do with existing materials and technologies available on early 20th century Earth.”

“Isn’t there something, anything we can do?” Queenie asked desperately, as her husband tried to comfort her. 

“There is...one possibility,” Newt looked up toward the sky, his mind whirring with calculations, “I can rig something to scan for more common types of temporal shift pockets, and I can use that to get a signal back to the Ilvermorny. If it works, they will be able to come here and get us.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Tina asked apprehensively. 

“Once we get it all set up, we can send the signal as many times as it takes,” Newt shrugged, “sooner or later, it’ll get through.”

“And how will we know?” Tina pressed further. 

“We won’t, until someone comes to find us,” Newt grimaced. 

“Great,” Tina muttered, “so we’re just stuck until whenever the Captain or the Commander makes it here and figures out where, exactly, in all of New York City we are…”

Everyone shifted around uncomfortably. Newt pulled Tina close and kissed her forehead. “It might be awhile, and it’s admittedly rather unsettling, but at least we’re here together...”

“I suppose you’re right,” Tina murmured, sweetly pecking his lips, before returning to her usual no-nonsense demeanor, “so what do we need, and how do we get it?” 

“It’s going to be tough, see, we can’t use subspace, or any of that,” Newt sighed, “we’re stuck with radio waves. And we’re going to need to build a device using common Earth metals. Some copper wire, gemstones, and other radio parts.”

He ticked off on his fingers the list of things he was going to need, and the crew got to work. They had some errands to run. Unfortunately, they soon found that the things they needed weren’t so easily obtained from shops. 

“So, which of us knows our Earth history best?” Queenie wondered aloud. She looked pointedly at both Jacob and Newt, “perhaps that can help us figure out how to get a hold of everything.” 

“I don’t know what you’re looking at me for!” Newt groaned, “I’m just an engineer.”

“You and Jacob are fully human,” Queenie rolled her eyes, “me and Teen left Earth when we were pretty young, and didn’t come back until we were in the Academy already.” 

“I didn’t really pay much attention to history,” Newt admitted sheepishly. 

“Well, lucky for everyone, I remember a few things from history class, though I’m not sure how useful any of it is,” Jacob admitted, “see, in the 1920s in America, there was something called Prohibition. Liquor was illegal, but a whole underground business thrived. People would get together in secret clubs to drink and stuff. And make shady deals for distributing more liquor.”

Tina and Queenie both sighed together. They were in trouble if they couldn’t figure out anything more useful about where they found themselves. But Newt’s eyes lit up. 

“There’s a thriving black market underground?” he exclaimed delightedly. Tina rolled her eyes while Queenie giggled. Tina loved her boyfriend dearly, but his utter disregard for the rule of law remained a bit of a sore point between them. 

“I see what he’s getting at, though,” Jacob nodded as he caught on, “black market distributors may be able to hook us up with some of the stuff we need.”

“And how do we find one of these parties?” Tina raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

Jacob took a few minutes to really think about it. “Let’s see…speakeasies! The illegal liquor parties were held in clubs called speakeasies,” Jacob scrunched his face, trying to dig deep and remember any helpful fact he could from those long ago history classes, “Oh!” his face brightened as he suddenly remembered, “a lot of the best speakeasies were up in Harlem!” 

Newt looked around bewildered, but Tina and Queenie now found themselves nodding along. “One thing that hasn’t changed much in 400 years is the New York City subway system,” Tina explained to Newt with an impish grin, “I don’t remember all the subway routes from when I lived here, but I imagine Jacob does. He’ll know exactly where to go.”

“You betcha!” Jacob agreed, “now, come on, this way!” The sun was setting and the nightclubs would be opening soon. They had to get moving if they were going to meet anyone who could help them tonight. 

************************

“This is it!” Theseus cried out triumphantly, pointing to a string of code flashing on his computer. After hours of running every conceivable bit of data the sensors had captured in the minutes before and after the transporter accident through the computers, they finally had a lead. 

“They materialized in lower Manhattan on December 6th, 1926,” Graves said, letting out a low whistle, “now what?” he looked over at the transporter operator, “is there a way we can reach in and beam them out of there? Or a way to go and get them?”

“You're going to have to go yourselves,” the operator explained, “and you’re going to have to find them in New York City and bring them back.”

“That sounds a little more complicated than we’d think,” Theseus grimaced. 

“Knowing them, especially Newt, they’re not sitting around waiting for us to rescue them,” Leta warned, “they’re probably running all over the city trying to track down materials for some device that I’m sure Newt thought up.”

“So how would we find them?” Theseus groaned, sinking back into his chair. 

“Well, you’ll need to bring equipment with you,” the transporter operator explained, “although they’ll be finding their communicators unable to work right now, once you’re there with the equipment online, you should be able to reach them.” 

Captain Graves gave the order, and soon, he, Theseus, and Leta were preparing for the extraction mission. There was much to be done. They needed to bring portable transporter equipment, pattern enhancers, and subspace capable devices. But equally importantly, they needed to replicate period appropriate clothing in order to blend in. 

They researched the parameters and then input the designs into the replicator. When they assembled back in the transporter room, they would not have looked out of place in a Gatsby film. Theseus and Graves both wore tailored three piece suits, and Graves even had a long, black overcoat. 

Leta was resplendent in a shimmering burgundy calf length dress and matching cloche hat. The hat fit snugly so as not to leave her head under any circumstances. She could not risk anyone catching a glimpse of her pointed ears. 

Their technological equipment was concealed in period appropriate briefcases. The transporter operator manually prepared a temporal opening to push them through to exactly the right date. 

“Now remember, once you’ve found them, send the signal back to me through the pattern enhancers,” the operator explained, “and I’ll be able to grab the seven of you and get you back here.” 

With that, the rescue team lined up together on the transporter pad, ready for a trip through both space and time…

*******************************

Finding a speakeasy was the easy part, getting in was harder. Well, for the two men at least. 

“Well, well, well,” the guard said looking them over, “two fine shebas such as yourselves are always welcome here,” he leered at Tina and Queenie, while Newt and Jacob scowled. They weren’t quite sure what, exactly, the term ‘sheba’ meant, but they knew it was objectifying. 

Tina and Queenie smiled apologetically before going inside. It seemed they would be alone in this part of the mission...When Newt had an idea and reached into his pocket, pulling out another bar of latinum. 

The guard’s eyes grew wide. “I’m sorry, sir, if I’d’a known...you will, of course get our best table…” he rambled, hustling Newt and Jacob in and shutting the door behind him. 

Reunited, the four got down to business. Newt’s bar of “gold” got them the best table in the house and a meeting with a well known bootlegger, who came out to greet them. Newt opened up the negotiations, sliding over his list of items that they needed. 

“Mr...Scamander, you said your name was?” Bobby Bruno, as the bootlegger was known, quirked an eyebrow, “I think we can arrange this. It’s not a crazy list. What did you say this was for?”

“We are preparing a new sort of device,” Newt explained. He knew it was risky, but figured they’d be gone before anyone figured something strange was going on, “a radio communication device with a rather...farther range than there is now.”

“I see you’re not from around here. London?” Bruno asked casually, though he was clearly fishing for information on this man he was negotiating with. 

“Yes,” Newt replied. His London may have been 400 years or so from now, but London was London, “however, the rest of my group is from here,” he gestured to Jacob, Queenie, and Tina.

“That one’s your doll?” Bruno inclined his head toward Tina. 

Newt slid his arm around Tina’s waist. “Yes. My...doll, as you say.” He hated the sound of the phrase, hated to think of his love like that. And he knew Tina must be seething underneath. But, they had to play the part while they were here, so they both went along with it. 

“Listen, you guys go out and enjoy the dance floor a bit. I’ll talk to some guys in the back and see what we can do for ya,” Bruno said with a jovial grin. 

“Thank you,” Newt nodded curtly, “erm, when…?”

“We’ll meet back at the table in an hour or so,” Bruno assured him.

The rest nodded and they made their way out to the dance floor. Bruno called one of his waiters over. “Keep an eye on those four,” he ordered them, “we’re gonna keep wining and dining them for now. But I wanna know more about the device they’re trying to build. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let some wealthy foreigner edge in on my territory.”

“Yes, sir,” the waiter bowed his head, and went to signal more associates, to let them know the Boss’s orders.

“I don’t trust him,” Tina murmured in Newt’s ear, as they held each other close. 

“You don’t trust anyone, love,” Newt murmured back, “though that is your job. And I agree. I think there’s going to be a high price to pay for associating with the likes of him. But we should be gone before we get in too deep.”

“I sure hope you’re right…” Tina bit her lip nervously. 

“Well, let’s enjoy ourselves for the time being,” Newt smiled boyishly, “we can pretend we’re on the holodeck, experiencing a different time.”

“That sure sounds a lot safer than actually experiencing a different time the way we’re doing right now,” Tina chuckled, “but yeah, I’ll give you that, this is a pretty fun time to be in.” 

“Have I told you yet how well the flapper look suits you?” Newt asked his girlfriend, provocatively planting a kiss on her neck, “I think when we do get back, we’re definitely going to need to recreate this on the holodeck.”

“Flatterer,” Tina smiled, before hauling Newt in for a kiss. 

Both couples danced the night away. It wasn’t hard to copy what the other couples on the floor were doing, so they partook in the jazzy dance steps and just overall enjoyed themselves. 

Eventually, Bobby Bruno came back out and beckoned them to the table. 

“Make sure to keep your weapons handy,” Queenie whispered as they made their way back over, “he doesn’t trust us. He’s gonna try to pull something.”

“I got everything you need out back,” Bruno announced once they were back around the table, and all four of them sat up straighter in their seats. 

Newt reached into his pocket to pull out another bar of latinum, but Bruno stopped him. “No, no, Mr. Scamander,” he laughed coldly, “what I want in exchange is more important than dough.” Newt shared a nervous glance with the other as Bruno explained, “what I want is in. This device you’re building, I want to know what you’re doing with it, and if it works, I want you to let me use it.”

“I...I guess so,” Newt stammered, trying to think about what he could tell Bruno once he got it working. Hopefully it wouldn’t take more than a couple of days for the Ilvermorny to get to them once the signal went out, but still, with such a dangerous character, they were going to have to stall for that time. 

Bruno sat there waiting for an answer, an inscrutable expression on his face. Newt finally held out his hand and Bruno took it, thus concluding the deal. 

He led them out to the back of the establishment, flanked by two “waiters” who were clearly part of his mob. “How long is this gonna take you to build, Mr. Scamander?” 

“Oh, maybe an hour or so,” Newt said nervously. He felt the ominous environment weighing on them, and was already questioning whether there hadn’t, perhaps, been a safer way to obtain the necessary materials. 

Sure enough, when they got to the back alley, Bruno and the two waiters had their guns out. Tina opened her mouth to protest hotly, but Bruno explained with a mocking smile, “We just wanna be sure you’re really doing what you say you’re doing. If Mr. Scamander’s telling the truth, no harm done. But any funny business…” He silently cocked his gun to make sure everyone understood. 

“Who would you like me to try to communicate with when I’m done?” Newt asked coolly, not betraying the slightest concern or fear, “So we can test it out?” 

“You tell me when you’re ready to send a message, and I’ll tell you where to send it,” Bruno Bruno smiled, pointing his gun. The two waiters had their guns pointed at Tina, Jacob, and Queenie, who were backed up against a wall. 

Newt got to work, occasionally calling out for someone to hand him a tool or a component. His girlfriend and crewmates continued to be stuck against the wall, unable to make the slightest move. 

“Almost there,” Newt said calmly, “Mr. Bruno, the diamond, please?” 

Bruno reached into his pocket and pulled out a diamond ring, handing it to Newt, who set it, stone side down, in the spot where he needed the diamond to go.

Suddenly, he heard the unmistakable sound of their communicators coming back online. That could only mean one thing: a rescue team had made it to this date! 

On the other hand…“What’s that sound?” Bruno asked suspiciously. 

Theseus’ voice just then rang out over all four communicators: “We’re coming. Stay where you are, we’ll come to you.”

Tina didn’t even wait for the message to finish. She whipped her phaser out from her garter and started shooting. Bruno was quick too, and started firing back. Tina managed to take out both the waiters, but Bruno was quicker. He avoided her shots, and the shots of the others, who by now had managed to pull out their own phasers. 

“Decisions, decisions,” Bruno sneered, continuing to shoot, “interesting weapons you’ve got there. I’d like to learn more. But I’m still going to have to kill you, when all is said and done!”

Even four against one, they just kept missing the man. He was clearly experienced with shootouts. Suddenly, something hit him in the back, and he fell, stunned, just like his associates. Well, that had to mean…

“Newt!” Theseus came running up to his brother and grabbed him in a bear hug.

Newt rolled his eyes, but weakly patted his older brother on the back. After Theseus stepped back, he was able to see that he was accompanied by Leta and the Captain. 

“We’re all fine, I think?” Newt turned around to check on Tina, Queenie, and Jacob, who, while disheveled, were all uninjured. Newt walked over to Tina and squeezed her hand, relieved. 

“Nice threads, Captain, Commander,” Jacob chuckled, “and you, Doctor, are lovely, as always.”

“Back atcha,” Graves said, “I must say, I do admire the elegance of this period. I’ll definitely be making a new holodeck program when we get back... Well, now, to business. These guys are only stunned, right?”

“Yeah,” Tina said, “we didn’t really have a choice, they were gonna shoot the moment our communicators came online.”

“Understood,” Graves nodded, “it’s just the three of them. They might not even really believe their own memories on this one, so they’ll probably keep it quiet. So, are we ready to go back?”

“Wait!” Leta said, “Just a moment to scan everyone. Just to make sure they’re safe for transport!” Everyone huffed, but allowed Leta to pull out her tricorder and do her job. Once she pronounced everyone perfectly fit, Theseus began to set up the pattern enhancers.

He was just about to send the subspace signal back through the manually open temporal pocket, when Newt suddenly found himself calling out, “Wait!”

“What is it now?” Theseus asked impatiently. 

“I promise, just two more minutes,” Newt pleaded, and turning to the captain, “Can we spare two more minutes?” Captain Graves nodded. 

Newt stooped down to gather the pieces of the device he’d been building and no longer needed. “Really?” Theseus huffed, “You need to bring that back with you?”

“Just, let me finish,” Newt grumbled, then, turned to Tina. “You were absolutely brilliant tonight, love,” he told her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and softly kissing her.

“Newt, why can’t this--” Theseus started, but both Leta and Captain Graves shushed him while smiling knowingly. Queenie smiled and whispered something in Jacob’s ear, causing his face to light up.

“Tina, I know this is a bit spur of the moment, but something about it also seems, well, like just the perfect moment,” Newt said, his voice shaking a bit. Then, he got down on one knee and held up the diamond ring Bruno had given him for the signal device. Tina put her hands to her mouth, and Queenie began to squeal as Jacob smiled fit to burst. 

“I love you, Tina Goldstein, with all that I am, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” Newt looked up, his sea green eyes shining brilliantly in the moonlight, awaiting her answer. 

“Yes!” Tina cried out happily, “of course I will! Oh, Newt, I love you more than anything!”

Newt looked up for a moment, utterly stunned that she really had accepted his proposal. Then, he tenderly slipped the ring on her finger, and stood up, scooping her into his arms and twirling her around before setting her down and kissing her soundly, as the rest of the crew clapped and shouted out joyful congratulations. 

Finally, Graves said, “Alright, your two minutes are up. Can we go back? We should celebrate on our ship, and in our own time.”

Newt and Tina, still clutching each other tightly, broke apart for a moment to nod their assent, smiling deliriously at each other. 

“Seven to beam home,” Graves announced to his communicator, and with a familiar whir, they were all whisked back to where they belonged. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeep! A Newtina proposal! 
> 
> Please let me know your thoughts below, and I will update soon!!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Tina get married!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for another wedding today!

_ Captain’s log, stardate 49467.7: For the third time within a year and a half, we find ourselves having a wedding on board, once again between two senior officers. One wonders if it will follow the pattern of having a high alert situation develop on the very same day… _

“What did I tell you, I just knew we’d be coming back for a celebration before the year was out!” Mrs. Scamander beamed at her husband and two sons, all looking dashingly handsome in their crisp, formal uniforms, “though Theseus, I was hoping for some other news by now…” she trailed off meaningfully.

Theseus shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing. He knew he was eventually going to have to break the news to his parents that Newt was their only chance of becoming grandparents, but today was not that day. No, it would not be a good idea to cause an argument on the day of his brother’s wedding. 

Suddenly, Graves’ voice rang out through both brothers’ communicators. “All senior officers to the bridge, immediately!” 

“On your wedding day, is he serious?” Mrs. Scamander cried out, “first he ruins Theseus’ honeymoon, now he’s--”

“It’s almost as though you haven’t spent the last 42 years married to a Starfleet officer yourself!” Captain Scamander chuckled, “you know duty calls when it calls.”

“Yes, yes,” she pouted, “still, what unbelievable odds, both boys’ weddings...”

“I’m sure Newt and Tina will become husband and wife as scheduled,” Theseus kissed his mother on the cheek, “but we have been called to the bridge, so Newt and I must get going. Especially if we expect to handle it in time for the ceremony.” 

With that, both brothers headed for the bridge. 

***********************

“What did I tell you?” Lwaxana gushed, “I had him picked out for you the moment I saw him from across the dance floor! While you were pouting ‘anyone but him.’ Ha! Your old aunt knows love when she sees it!”

Tina rolled her eyes good naturedly. If Aunt Lwaxana wanted sole credit for bringing her and Newt together, that was fine with her. 

“Tina, dear, are you sure you want to wear your formal uniform instead of a proper human wedding dress? Or maybe going naked like a proper Betazoid?” Lwaxana frowned disapprovingly. 

“You know I hate dresses,” Tina reminded her, “I don’t even own one! I borrow from Queenie when I need to! And as for Betazoid custom, that’s one I’m quite happy to do without...”

“But this is your wedding!” Lwaxana exclaimed passionately.

“Newt gets to get married in uniform, why can’t she?” Queenie piped up, “besides, Teenie looks amazing in her formal uniform!” 

“And you know what?” Tina said, blushing gratefully at her sister’s defense, “Newt knows what he’s getting with me. And I know he loves me as I am!”

“That was never in doubt,” Lwaxana smiled, placing an arm around her niece’s shoulders and kissing her cheek, “that man is positively lovesick over you! Why, I could swear I can hear him thinking of you from halfway across the galaxy!” 

The three of them giggled together at that. Just then, Graves’ voice rang out on both sisters’ communicators, “All senior officers to the bridge, immediately!” 

“Not again!” Lwaxana demanded indignantly as the sisters sighed and started making their way to the bridge, “I mean, what in the galaxy has that captain of yours got against weddings?” 

Once again, she followed her nieces all the way to the bridge, pouting about the captain ruining yet another perfectly good day for a wedding. Captain Graves grimaced but said nothing as the garrulous Betazoid strode onto the bridge like she owned it. 

“We have a shuttle hailing us, claiming to be Albus Dumbledore,” Graves scowled, as the senior crew assembled, then, turning to Queenie, “Counselor, you know what to do. I’m answering the hail and bringing whoever it is on screen now.”

The faces of Albus Dumbledore and Barebone Credence appeared on screen. Queenie took a moment, then confidently declared, “That’s them, alright. They both are who they say they are.” Lwaxana chimed in with her agreement.

Graves nodded curtly, before addressing himself to Dumbledore. “You know I can’t let you go, Albus. Even if I have to shoot at you, I have a duty to try to bring you in.”

“There will be no shooting today,” Dumbledore said serenely, “I’m here to turn myself in peacefully. I have merely two requests. Two requests, and I shall come quietly.” 

Graves shot Queenie a look, and she nodded. “He means it,” she said, “he does plan to turn himself in so long as his conditions are met.”

“I hope we can come to an agreement, Albus. I’d hate to have to shoot,” Graves growled. Dumbledore never wavered in his serene expression. 

“The first is that you take Barebone on as a normal passenger. He is not to be imprisoned,” Dumbledore insisted, “keep a security detail on him if you wish, but he is to be assigned normal quarters and treated as a passenger, until you have him safely delivered to Starfleet Command.”

Graves nodded. “That seems reasonable enough,” he agreed, “We have no beef with the young man, we only want to see him safe. What is your second request?”

“I ask,” Dumbledore said, with a twinkle in his eye, “that before you take me to the brig, as you surely must, that I be allowed to attend today’s wedding. I did promise Lieutenant Scamander on the eve of his brother’s wedding that I would be there for his. I do wish to fulfill that promise, captain.”

Both Newt and Tina stared at the floor blushing. Captain Graves scowled, but he wasn’t going to start an unnecessary shootout, especially not at risk to the Barebone kid. 

“Fine,” Graves barked, “but you will be searched, surrounded by security, and you’re going to the brig the moment they disembark for their honeymoon.”

“Agreed,” Dumbledore nodded, holding up his hands to show he held no weapons, “prepare your security detail and beam us aboard, captain.”

Crisis averted, the rest of the day proceeded smoothly. Credence was assigned quarters and a two person security detail. Dumbledore was flanked by a four person security detail, and kept in the brig until it was time to bring him up for the ceremony. 

Newt beamed adoringly at his bride as though she’d hung the stars. He absolutely loved that she’d chosen to marry in full formal military dress, same as him. Tina’s eyes shone brightly as she smiled radiantly at her groom, who she loved more than life itself. She hadn’t necessarily expected to marry, not unless she’d found someone truly exceptional. And here, to her shock, yet utter delight, she had, and nothing in the galaxy felt so right or wonderful.

“These two did not get off to the easiest start, to say the least,” Graves began, to much hearty chuckling among the guests, “but they always put aside their differences in the name of professionalism. And then, with time, something truly magical happened. They came to find that they had more in common than they thought. And once that took hold, there was no stopping them, as love began to blossom.”

Mrs. Scamander and Lwaxana sobbed openly. Queenie was a little more dignified, quietly letting the tears flow down her smiling face. Even Theseus and Jacob found themselves dabbing at their eyes with tissues. Leta, of course, did not allow her own tears to be more than the tiniest droplets at the corners of her eyes that not even her own husband could detect, but she smiled radiantly. 

“It’s particularly satisfying when it works out this way,” Graves continued, “when two people learn not only to overcome their differences, but to actually wind up falling in love. Fairy tale romance it is not, but it is beautiful all the same. It is my honor and privilege to join these two exceptional officers in matrimony, and I look forward to continuing to serve together for a long time. And so, with the power vested in me by Starfleet, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Tina joyfully threw her arms around Newt’s neck as he tipped her back and kissed her soundly, while the guests burst into raucous applause. 

It was a wonderful and happy occasion. Graves allowed Newt’s pets to attend the reception (under the careful watch of Bunty) while everyone drank and danced the night away. 

Lwaxana flirted shamelessly with both Graves and Dumbledore (“She can read minds! She should know full well Dumbledore’s gay and the captain is not interested!” Tina exclaimed, shaking her head incredulously.) Newt’s parents shamelessly badgered both their sons to give them grandchildren. 

Jacob and Theseus even at one point requested that the computer play a mix of 1920s Earth hits, in honor of the night that Newt and Tina had gotten engaged. Although it was awkward, the couple did acknowledge Dumbledore and thank him for coming, tactfully ignoring the looming charges and extremely long prison sentence he was facing. 

At long last, the party wound down. The families and closest friends of the couple accompanied them to the shuttle bay, as they prepared to depart for their honeymoon. Someone had scrawled “Just Married” across the rear of the shuttle. Thankfully, no further emergencies cropped up, and they were able to leave on schedule, or, as close to on schedule as they could be, given several last rounds of hugs, kisses, and congratulations from everyone. 

Newt set the course for Risa, the tropical resort planet on which they were to spend their honeymoon, and guided them safely out of the shuttle bay. As they cleared the ship and the door closed behind them, the happy bride and groom smiled excitedly at each other before embracing tightly and sharing a passionate kiss as they zoomed between the stars. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts below!
> 
> I am happy to report that I have finished writing this, so I'm going to be posting daily till the end!! On that note, see you back here tomorrow!!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt and Tina encounter some difficulty on their way back from their honeymoon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another one of my favorites to write! It's basically allll Newtina today!!
> 
> Glossary: 
> 
> Yridian- a humanoid species that often deals in smuggling both goods and information. Piracy is common. 
> 
> Class M- a designation for a planet or moon that is capable of supporting life. 
> 
> inertial dampening- a system used on almost all starships to counter the effects of rapid acceleration and deceleration

_ Captain’s log stardate 49470.1: We have arrived at Starbase 241 to pick up our Chief Engineer and Chief of Security, returning from their honeymoon on Risa… _

Newt pulled Tina into his lap for another kiss, as their shuttle cruised on toward the starbase. He held her around the waist with one arm while he used the other to tangle his fingers in her silky raven dark hair as he tipped her back. Tina ran her fingers through his bangs as she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. 

“I’m going to miss this,” Newt breathed against her lips as they took a moment to come up for air. 

“I mean, we’re married now,” Tina smirked, “we’ll be coming home to each other every single night after duty…”

“After duty being the operative words,” Newt pouted, “it won’t be like these last two weeks, of us and only us…”

“Well, a honeymoon can’t last forever,” Tina agreed wistfully, “but, for the next day or so, we’re still on our honeymoon as far as I’m concerned.” 

“Oh, absolutely,” Newt growled possessively, rolling them both off his seat and pinning Tina to the floor while she giggled girlishly. They were just starting to tug each other’s clothes off when the console started beeping. 

“No!” Newt whined, “Who would possibly be bothering us now?” 

Tina sat up, flushed and breathless, to check who was hailing them. Her face immediately darkened. “Newt, get the shields up, now!” 

Newt sat in his seat and immediately started working on it. “What’s going on?” 

“Damn Yridian pirates,” Tina groaned, playing the message from the other ship, threateningly announcing that they should prepare to be boarded. 

“Like hell they will,” Newt muttered, “nobody’s getting past my shields! Though, you might want to be ready to make evasive maneuvers...”

“Already on it,” Tina nodded, punching furiously at her console. Sure enough, a photon torpedo zinged right past them, just missing their port nacelle as Tina listed the shuttle to the side. 

“Do we have any nebulae or planets nearby?” Tina asked, “I think that’s our best best for outrunning them.”

“Agreed,” Newt said, furiously searching, “yes, there’s a large gas planet, bearing 247 mark 371. We can hide in its ion emissions. Also, it has a Class M moon, should we need to land somewhere.” 

“Alright, I’ll take us there,” Tina said, rolling the shuttle to the other side as another photon torpedo zinged past and Newt continued modifying the shields to prevent the pirates from boarding. They took a few grazing hits, which took the shields down a bit, but Newt kept working to give them as much power as he could.

They ran, zigzagging this way and that as the pirates continued firing at them. Just as the planet came into sight, the shuttle shook ominously as they took a direct hit.

“Status?” Tina called out as the lights flickered and the shuttle continued to shake relentlessly. 

“Warp core breach imminent, I’m ejecting it now,” Newt shook his head, “Core ejected. Tina, send a subspace distress signal to the Ilvermorny, I’ll take over the piloting. I’m going to land us on the moon, we don’t have a choice.” 

Between the two of them, Newt was the more experienced pilot, so Tina fully relinquished the helm, ready to do whatever was needed as he guided the shuttlecraft to the surface. 

“Understood,” Tina nodded, furiously working to get the message out.

Newt steered them into the Class M moon, almost losing complete control as they entered the atmosphere, but ultimately getting them through without a hull breach. 

“Brace yourself, love, we’ve lost inertial dampening, and I’ve had to switch to manual, so it’s going to be a rough landing,” he warned, as snow capped mountains and conifer trees came into view, rushing past them in a blur as they whizzed past. Indeed, they were both tossed to and fro as Newt kept his grip on the manual controls and tried to steer them to a decent landing spot. 

“This is it,” he called out at last, white-knuckling them to a clearing along a mountainside. Tina braced herself, and Newt braced the best he could while still steering. 

They both yelped as the shuttle crashed and they felt the reverberations. Luckily, despite being crumpled around the sides, the main chamber remained largely intact. 

“You alright there, love?” Newt asked softly, turning his head to check on his wife.

“I think so,” Tina groaned, “though let’s get the medkit out, to be safe.” 

Newt nodded and reached under his console for the medkit. His bruised body protested, but he figured if he was able to move, it couldn’t be that serious. He frowned as he pulled out the medkit. It was completely crushed. 

“Hand it over,” Tina insisted, “maybe we can salvage something from it.” 

“You do that, I’ll scan you,” Newt said, pulling out his tricorder, “my tricorder seems fine.” 

Tina started pulling out and examining various instruments from the crushed case, her frown growing ever more prominent as she realized every last hypospray and other medical tool was too damaged to be used. 

“No broken bones, no internal bleeding, very slight concussion,” Newt exhaled in relief as the readings came through. He looked up at Tina and noticed a large and bloody laceration on her shoulder. “I don’t like the look of that gash on your shoulder, though,” he frowned. 

“Well, you’re gonna be stuck with soap, water, and rudimentary tourniquets, I’m afraid,” Tina sighed as she gestured to the ruined contents of the medkit she’d tossed on the floor, “now gimme that tricorder so I can make sure you’re alright.”

After Tina determined her husband was also just slightly concussed and bruised, Newt tore a piece of his sleeve off to wrap around Tina’s bloody shoulder. “Should at least stop the bleeding. Now, I’m going to check on the replicator.”

He kissed her temple softly then made his way to the back, and grimaced at the sight of the replicator. It was definitely damaged, though he could repair it enough to get it to keep them alive until they were found. 

An hour later, he made his way back to Tina, arms laden with some fresh bandages, soap, water, and peanut butter sandwiches. “It’s about the limit of what the replicator can do for now,” Newt shrugged sheepishly, as he undid Tina’s tourniquet and started cleaning out the wound on her shoulder, which had thankfully stopped bleeding for the most part, “you got the distress call out, yes?” 

“Yeah,” Tina winced as Newt cleaned her up, “but it’ll take at least a day till they get it. And I’m not sure how much of it came through. We may be stuck here a few days.”

“Well, the good news is, we won’t starve,” Newt grinned, “the replicator is able to make water and peanut butter sandwiches. We’ll probably never want to look at peanut butter again after this, but it should suffice till they find us.” 

Tina chuckled at that and kissed her husband softly on his bruised cheek before biting into her sandwich. After they ate their sandwiches and washed them down with plain water, Newt managed to pull out their mattress from their sleeping berth. The berth was caved in, but the mattress was still usable. The bruised and battered couple curled up together, holding each other tightly, before dropping off to sleep. 

********************

“Risian authorities have confirmed that they left on time, and followed the registered flight plan, as least as far as the border of Risian space,” Jacob confirmed with a sigh. 

“What about the sensor logs?” Captain Graves asked. 

“Nothing,” Theseus shook his head miserably, “besides, they’re only good within a 50 million kilometer range. If something happened farther out than that…” He swallowed through the growing lump in his throat. He glanced over at Queenie, who sat staring silently ahead, willing herself not to cry. 

“I’ve put out a call to all the medical facilities in the area,” Leta said quietly, squeezing her husband’s shoulder, “nothing.”

Graves frowned. He couldn’t think of what else to try. They had arrived right on schedule at Starbase 241 nearly twenty four hours ago to pick up his two newly married crew members, only to find that they’d never checked in. 

He’d tried in vain to calm down his panicked first officer (who always had been fiercely protective of his younger brother), and it was now becoming increasingly clear that Theseus had not been unjustified in panicking. Something was very, very wrong here. 

“Whoa, we’ve got a subspace communication coming in!” Jacob yelped, “A distress call!” 

“Patch it through!” Theseus ordered, heart pounding. 

The message was hazy and kept breaking up, but they were able to make out Tina’s voice saying “...under fire...emergency landing…”

“Can you make out the coordinates?” Theseus asked, wringing his hands.

“Not in the audio, but it should be encoded, I can pull it up,” Jacob nodded, “here, this is where we need to go!” 

“That planet’s a gas giant!” Theseus exclaimed, as the blood drained from his face. 

“But look,” Leta pointed out, “it has a class M moon. I think it’s logical to conclude that if their emergency landing was successful, that’s where they are.”

“Indeed,” Graves nodded curtly, “let the Starbase know, we’re leaving, they need to release the docking clamps. And Kowalski, set a course for that moon, warp 7.” 

“Aye, sir,” Jacob replied, setting course. 

*************************

Tina pried her eyes open and found herself alone on the mattress. “Newt?” she called out sleepily. 

Newt was by her side in seconds. “You feeling alright, love? How’s the shoulder?” 

Tina sat up and moved her shoulder around, then checked the dressing. “Better than yesterday,” she assured him, “no new bleeding, very sore, but I can move it just fine.” 

Newt gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I’m glad you’re feeling well. Do you think you can join me by the shuttle door? There’s a fascinating creature--”

“Only you would find a way to study new creatures while marooned on an unnamed moon somewhere,” Tina chuckled fondly, ruffling her husband’s bangs, “but, I’m game, I’ll go take a look.”

She broke out into a delighted smile as she looked at the panther-like creature, clearly a young cub, pacing in front of the door. “Oh, it’s adorable!” she gushed, then, her eyebrows rose as she noticed another feature, one Newt couldn’t possibly have detected, “It’s telepathic!” 

Although Tina had not inherited telepathy from her betazoid side, she did have the ability to sense when someone around her was telepathic. 

Newt’s eyes grew wide at the revelation. “Oh, Tina, we have to bring it back with us, for further study!”

“So long as you can do that without causing us further damage,” Tina rolled her eyes. 

Newt kissed her temple softly. “We’ll figure something out. Wonder if it’ll like peanut butter.” Tina laughed loudly. 

A few hours later, with Newt having managed to coax the replicator to make some milk, the little cub lay curled up, sleeping on the floor of the shuttle, while Newt and Tina watched it fondly. 

“What now?” Tina asked, “I wonder how close the Ilvermorny is to finding us.”

“Well, I seem to recall you saying that although we’ve left Risa, until we get back to the ship, we are still on our honeymoon,” Newt murmured as he planted a kiss on her neck, causing her to shiver pleasantly, “so I see no reason we can’t do the same honeymoon stuff we’ve been doing until now...provided you’re feeling up to it.” 

He planted another kiss on Tina’s neck, and she sagged against him with a light moan. “I think that’s an excellent suggestion, Lieutenant,” Tina smirked, and they stumbled together into the mattress to occupy themselves with continuing their honeymoon…

They spent most of the rest of the day on their mattress, enjoying the time alone, stranded as they were with nothing else to do. At one point, as they relaxed in each other’s arms, cooling down, the little cub woke up, and came over to the couple, purring at their feet. 

“We should get dressed,” Tina suggested, “it feels like a child has crawled into bed with us.” 

“I guess I can understand that,” Newt shrugged, reaching for their clothes, tossing Tina hers as he pulled his back on. “I must say, I’ll be glad to be back on board with a clean, non-ripped uniform,” Newt grimaced, looking over at his torn sleeve. 

“Me too,” Tina agreed, now dressed and holding the cub in her lap, stroking his ears while he purred. Newt’s heart melted at the sight. 

Suddenly, there was a banging at the door, as Theseus’ panicked voice rang out, “Newt? Tina? Are you in there? Are you alright?” 

“Good thing you suggested getting dressed,” Newt whispered to Tina with a wink before shouting out, “Coming, coming. We’re fine, Theseus!”

Newt and Tina walked over to the door together and opened it up while the little cub nervously rubbed against their ankles. Theseus immediately grabbed Newt in a bear hug, while Queenie did the same with Tina. 

“Boy are we glad to see you guys!” Jacob exclaimed, as Leta tried to push her way in with her tricorder to make sure they really were alright. 

“Alright, enough hugging,” she chided, “I need to scan them!” 

Theseus and Queenie stepped back, and Newt and Tina didn’t argue with Leta, even though they’d scanned each other right after the crash. “I’m still taking you both to sick bay, just in case,” Leta insisted, “but I promise, I won’t keep you more than a night.”

Newt scooped up the cub, to much head shaking and laughter, as they all prepared to beam up together. “Energize!” Theseus called out as soon as they were ready. Newt and Tina squeezed hands and smiled softly at each other as they all beamed home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please share your thoughts below! And see you back here tomorrow!!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina meets with Credence. She learns something shocking--both about space and herself!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! A lot going on in this chapter, hope you like it!

_ Captain’s log stardate 49472.5: we are enroute to Vulcan, where Dumbledore is facing trial for treason against the Federation… _

“And it’s telepathic too!” Bunty marveled.

“According to both Tina and Queenie, it is,” Newt nodded excitedly, as they studied the little cub he and Tina had brought back from the moon they’d crashed on, “now, have you found anything in the databases? Has anyone logged any sort of creature such as this one?”

“Nope!” Bunty grinned mischievously, “which means, I believe, that you get the honors of naming it.”

“That is quite an honor,” Newt said softly, taking in the fact that he’d just apparently discovered an entirely new creature.

“It’s understandable if you want to take some time to think about it,” Bunty assured him, “I mean, it’s not every day you get to name an entirely new species…”

“You know, I think I do know something that would fit,” Newt’s face lit up, “we should call it a Wampus.”

“Where’d you come up with that?” Bunty asked.

“It’s from an old Earth mythology,” Newt explained, “some ancient indigenous peoples of North America had stories of a powerful panther-like creature.”

“Well, then, wampus it is,” Bunty smiled, logging it into the Starfleet Zoological Society’s database. 

The newly named wampus licked Newt’s face and purred loudly, in approval. Just then, the captain’s voice rang out through his communicator. “The admiral’s just arrived, along with Barebone. We need all senior staff at the Observation Room immediately.”

“Duty calls,” Newt sighed, depositing the little cub back in Bunty’s arms, “either me or Tina will be back to look in on everyone later.”

“Of course,” Bunty smiled brightly. It still stung a bit that Newt had gone and gotten married, but she was, of course, happy for him. He clearly adored his new wife very much, and she did seem to love the creatures as much as he did. 

The officers gathered around the table. Only the admiral was with them, Barebone Credence had been directed to his quarters. 

“Starfleet legal is working on a deal with Dumbledore,” Admiral Piquery wrinkled her nose. 

“Well, deals are allowed to be made,” Graves shrugged, “if Dumbledore’s got something valuable enough to trade for a lighter sentence, that’s his right to negotiate for it.”

Picquery scowled, but knew Graves was ultimately correct. “So what is Dumbledore’s bargaining chip?” Theseus asked, intrigued. 

“He insists that Barebone has something so valuable, that it may be worth his freedom,” Picquery explained, “I have brought him along here to assess those claims. If they prove to be true, the deal will be signed and Dumbledore will go free.”

Newt and Theseus shared a look. They both had very complicated feelings about the whole situation, especially given their long history of family friendship with Dumbledore. They did feel sorry for him. But it was hard to get the image of Dumbledore and Grindelwald together out of their minds, and Grindelwald was a true danger to the Federation…

“So why do you need us to figure out if Barebone’s claims are worth Dumbledore’s freedom?” Graves asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Because Barebone doesn’t want to talk to anyone, except for one Tina Goldstein,” Picquery shrugged. 

Newt squeezed Tina’s hand as Tina sat stiffly in her chair. He’d noticed that she, unusually for her, had been distracted throughout the meeting. And now, she was apparently the key to some major developments in Federation politics. 

“M-m-me?” Tina stammered.

“That’s what he said,” Picquery said coolly, “and so that’s what’s going to happen. You’re to meet with him at 0900 hours tomorrow, and find out everything of value that the boy knows.”

“Aye, sir,” Tina murmured quietly. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day…

That night, while getting ready for bed, Tina checked herself again, as she’d been doing obsessively for the last several days. Nothing. Not a speck. She scrunched up her face, willing herself not to cry. She had a lot going on lately. It was probably just stress. Besides, she was seeing Leta first thing tomorrow. There was no point in panicking before then. 

“Tina, love?” Newt knocked on the bathroom door softly, “everything alright in there?”

“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute, hon,” Tina said with a false brightness. She took a few more moments to take some deep breaths and gather her composure before exiting the bathroom. Newt was waiting in bed for her, and she slid in right next to him. 

Newt gathered her into his arms and began trailing kisses down her neck and amorously running his hands down her sides. Tina decided to go along with it, if for no other reason than needing the distraction.

Newt noticed. “You don’t really want to tonight, do you,” he said softly, pulling away. 

“Of course I do!” Tina insisted, pulling him back toward her. 

But Newt knew better. “You haven’t been yourself all day,” he told her, “I’d rather you told me what’s bothering you than trying to force yourself to do it when you don’t really want to. What’s going on, love?” Newt asked earnestly, pressing his lips to Tina’s forehead. 

Tina knew she should tell her husband what had her on edge. About what should have happened several days ago but hadn’t yet, and what that likely meant. About her morning appointment with the doctor. But she couldn’t. Maybe it was nothing. There was no point in making a big deal over it right now and making Newt worry too.

“I’m just nervous about having to question Credence tomorrow,” Tina settled on. Which was also true. It was eating at her. Just...not nearly as much as the other thing. 

“I understand,” Newt sighed, “it is a rather daunting prospect. I’m sorry it’s weighing on you so.”

“Hold me?” Tina asked, finally finding it in her to communicate something useful to her husband tonight.

“Of course, love,” Newt smiled, holding her tight and kissing her forehead again, “I’m always here for you. I love you so much.”

“I know you are,” Tina sighed, snuggling against her husband's chest, “I love you too. Goodnight.”

The next morning, Tina immediately ran to the bathroom, while Newt programmed breakfast into the replicator. Still clean. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out in frustration. Besides, she’d know one way or the other in the next hour or so. She could freak out then--if it was even warranted, which maybe it wasn’t.

She knew Newt would notice her mood during breakfast, but, as he still assumed it was nervousness over Credence, he said nothing. He simply held her a little tighter and gave her an extra kiss as they said goodbye before he went down to engineering and she went off to the bridge. 

Except she first went to sick bay for her appointment. She sat on the cold exam table waiting to be seen. Leta bustled in with her usual calm demeanor and greeted Tina warmly. 

“Now, as you’re not due for your annual physical, I assume you’re here because something is bothering you. What seems to be the problem?” she asked Tina.

“More of a concern than a problem,” Tina bit her lip, “it’s...it’s my cycle…” she trailed off, looking at the floor.

“Ah yes,” Leta nodded knowingly, “cycles can sometimes act a little funny when there’ve been big changes going on, and…”

“I’m five days late! I’m never late!” Tina snapped, then, “I’m sorry, I’m just really on edge. It’s just...we were planning to wait two or three years. We’re not ready, it’s too soon...”

“I understand,” Leta nodded, “and of course, we’ll check to rule it out. But it’s probably just a bit of stress, you know, from the wedding and all of the other stuff going on lately... I mean, you do use a contraceptive hypospray, as I recall, so pregnancy is highly unlikely.”

Tina was mollified initially. Until she remembered. She was indeed using a contraceptive hypospray. Except for that one time that she didn’t…

“Tina?” Leta looked at her questioningly. 

“Remember a few weeks ago, when me and Newt got stranded on that moon for a couple of days, on our way back from Risa?” Tina bit her lip. Leta nodded, and Tina continued, “so, our medkit was pulverized in the crash. None of the hyposprays were usable. Including the contraception. And, well, we were stranded for two days with not much to do…” she trailed off, leaving Leta to fill in the blanks.

“Oh,” Leta nodded, “so the possibility is not as remote as I thought...well, only one way to find out…” She pulled out her tricorder, and gave Tina’s hand a compassionate squeeze as she scanned her. 

Tina bit her lip, and sat rigidly as the tricorder beeped out its readings. Leta squeezed her hand again and Tina looked into her eyes, fearfully awaiting the answer. 

“You are pregnant,” Leta confirmed, “and it does match up with when you were on that moon.” 

Tina’s face immediately crumpled, and Leta hugged her tightly allowing her to cry into her shoulder. “These things happen sometimes,” Leta assured her, “and you can decide how you want to proceed. It is entirely up to you, I promise.” 

Tina didn’t answer, and continued to cry. “Would you like me to call Newt in?” Leta suggested, not knowing what else to do. 

“I guess,” Tina sniffed. 

“Lestrange to Scamander, I need you in sick bay,” Leta said into her communicator. 

A moment later, a panicked Newt beamed himself directly into sick bay. 

“That was fast,” Leta remarked. 

“Where is she? What’s wrong?” Newt demanded to know, then saw Tina sitting on the exam table crying softly, and Newt immediately scooped her in his arms. He turned back to Leta, “What happened?” 

“She’s pregnant,” Leta informed him, “nothing is actually wrong, I promise. Well, not physically, at any rate.” 

Newt’s jaw dropped, as he quietly murmured, “But how? I thought…”

“That damn crash,” Tina murmured, now resting her head on Newt’s shoulder.

“Ah, right,” Newt nodded, suddenly understanding. He held Tina for a few more minutes as they processed the immediate shock of it together. Then, he tentatively asked, “So, what do you want to do? Your choice, love.” He looked up at Leta, who nodded encouragingly. 

Tina shook her head. “I...I need some time to really think...I don’t think I can really make a decision right now.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Leta patted Tina’s shoulder, “you’re very early on, you have some time to decide how you wish to proceed.” 

“I need to go, anyway, I’ve got work to do,” Tina muttered, sitting up straight and drying her eyes.

“Are you sure?” Newt squeezed her hand, “I’m sure Leta could write you a medical notice for the day…”

“No, I want to work today,” Tina insisted, “I need a distraction. We can...we can talk about it tonight.” 

She jumped off the exam table and wiped her eyes again, just to be sure her face was clear. Newt got up to follow. He pulled Tina back into his arms, and held her extra tight, running his fingers through her hair. Tina looked up and kissed him softly.

“I’ve got you, Tina,” Newt whispered against her lips as soon as they broke apart, “please don’t hesitate if you need me, even if you’re still on shift.”

“Same goes for you,” Tina murmured, “I know it’s a shock for you too…”

“Indeed it is,” Newt sighed, “but nothing needs to be decided right now, nor even tonight. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.” 

They stepped apart to go their separate ways for the day. Tina took a deep breath and pulled herself together. She had all of tonight to fall apart, but she had work to do today, right now, and she was going to do it.

Credence’s face lit up as Tina walked into the meeting room, the ridges on his nose crinkling as he smiled widely. He bounded over to her with a smile, the large, elaborate traditional earring in his right ear swinging along, and he grabbed her left ear, in the customary Bajoran greeting. 

“It’s good to see you again,” Credence said earnestly. 

“I know,” Tina smiled warmly, “it’s good to see you again, too.”

“And I know congratulations are in order,” Credence replied, and for a moment, Tina’s stomach swooped, wondering how he could possibly know...until she realized he was clearly referring to her recent marriage, as he finished, “I’m sorry we kind of crashed your big day.” 

“Yes, and it’s been wonderful,” she sighed happily, “and of course it was fine, I didn’t mind your crashing our wedding. Even though we didn’t even get to really see you.” 

“I can see that marriage suits you,” Credence chuckled.

“You know, I never thought I was the type to marry,” Tina said honestly, “but now that I have, you’re right. It does suit me,” she beamed. “Now, tell me, Credence, what’s going on with you? Something must have gone on in the last three years…”

Credence sighed. The time for friendly chatting was over. But he had promised to open up to Tina Goldstein, and he knew he could trust her. “I have seen and spoken with the beings my people call the Prophets,” he told her. 

“Are you telling me those Bajoran deities are real?” Tina raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

“In a manner of speaking,” Credence nodded, “Are they actual gods? Who knows. They can be if you want them to be, I guess. But they are living beings that exist, just on the edge of Bajoran space, and they do have a hand in certain...phenomena.”

“What...what kind of phenomena?” Tina asked, curiosity piqued, and not just because she had a job to do.

“A stable wormhole,” Credence whispered. 

“Stable wormhole? You mean you will always end up in the same place on both ends?” Tina asked incredulously. If this was true, it would be the most important discovery of their era. 

“Yes,” Credence murmured. 

“I’m guessing that’s what Grindelwald wanted with you,” Tina sighed. 

“He does not know for certain,” Credence assured her, “but he suspects it’s something of that nature. And the Obsidian Order is good, Tina. If they haven’t figured it out by now, they will soon.”

“And the last thing we need is Cardassians being the first to make deals with whoever is on the other side,” Tina grimaced. Then, she turned back to Credence, “but why couldn’t you tell any of this to the Admiral? Why me?”

“I was planning to return to Bajor and tell them, let my people be the first, if we’re being honest,” Credence sighed heavily. 

“So why tell me at all? I still have to tell them what you told me,” Tina said, “I’m a Starfleet officer, my duty is to Starfleet first. Even over a treasured friend,” she squeezed Credence’s hand softly. 

“I know,” Credence nodded, “but, well, plans changed. I never made it back to Bajor.”

“Ah,” Tina nodded in understanding, “the Order got you first, and when you left, it was with Dumbledore. And he wanted you with the Federation.”

“Exactly,” said Credence, “and I figured, once I’m stuck with the Federation, may as well use it to the advantage of Bajor…” he trailed off meaningfully.

“You want us to expedite Bajor’s petition to join, in exchange for everything you know about this wormhole,” Tina caught on immediately. Credence nodded silently. “I suppose that shouldn’t be too difficult. We do hope for Bajor to join, and I don’t see the harm,” Tina shrugged, “though I’ll obviously have to run it by the upper brass.”

“Of course, that I understand. In the meantime, I’m here and waiting,” Credence smiled. 

“How long are you planning to stay aboard?” Tina inquired.

“However long it takes to work this all out,” Credence shrugged, “will you show me around? Introduce me properly to your husband?”

“Of course,” Tina smiled fondly and embraced Credence, “sometime in the next couple of days, OK? You just make yourself at home in the meantime. I really do look forward to catching up.”

Credence hugged her back, and with that, they parted. Tina rubbed her temples, thinking about everything, both personal and political, that she’d learned that day. And then went off to report her findings to the captain and the admiral. 

Finally, the time came to clock out. Tina was more emotionally exhausted than physically, and as soon as she got to her room, just plopped onto her bed and curled up, letting the tears stream down. She didn’t hear the whoosh of the doors as Newt returned just a few minutes later, and only realized he’d come in when he took her into his arms.

Newt held his wife close, tenderly stroking her hair, quietly waiting for her to be ready to talk. Finally, Tina looked up at him through red rimmed eyes and said, “I know what I have to do. But I’m still scared.”

“You know I’ll support you in whatever you choose,” Newt said softly, kissing her forehead. 

“I...I can’t end it,” Tina murmured, “It just doesn’t feel right to me. But I’m not ready for this! I’m so scared, Newt! I don’t know that I can do this!” Her eyes welled up again, and tears began to spill over. 

“You can do this,” Newt squeezed her tight, “because we’re in this together. You’re not alone, Tina. This is my child too, and we’re in this together, every step of the way.”

“It’s just too soon!” Tina cried out, “we talked about this before we got married! We had a plan, and we were gonna wait a few years…”

“You’re right,” Newt murmured, still softly running his fingers through Tina’s hair, “it is far too soon. We did mean to wait a little longer. But it seems the unexpected has happened, and we have to make the best of it. I’m scared too, you know.”

“You are?” Tina whispered hoarsely.

“Of course,” Newt told her, “I’m not any more ready than you are. We did have plans, and now they’ve been shifted rather dramatically. But also, it’s not...something bad, you know? We did agree we wanted to have children, did we not?”

“We did,” Tina sighed, “just not yet.”

“So, it’s happening rather sooner than we’d have preferred,” Newt continued, “but it’s something we would have done eventually. The timeline just got moved up a bit. We still have...well, how long would it be for you?”

“Betazoid women carry for 10 months, but I’m half human, so it’ll probably be somewhere between 9 and 10 months,” Tina explained, “I guess we can ask Leta.”

“And you’re a month along already...so, 8 months, maybe a little longer?” Newt raised an eyebrow, and Tina nodded. “So we have some time to get used to the idea.”

“I guess,” Tina sniffed, “I’m still scared though…”

“And you’re allowed to be,” Newt whispered into her hair, hugging her tightly, “I am too. The important thing is, I’ve got you, Tina. We’re in this together.” 

“I love you,” Tina sighed into Newt’s shoulder as he held her, “I love you so much!”

“I love you too,” Newt planted a soft kiss on her forehead, “I love you, and I believe in you. We can do this…” 

The couple held each other tight as they sat on the bed together, ready to face this new and unexpected change in their lives together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, well well, that little detour last chapter had some consequences! Please let me know your thoughts below!
> 
> See you back here tomorrow!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ilvermorny crew visits the wormhole Credence told them about; meanwhile, Dumbledore and Grindelwald meet again...

_ Captain’s log stardate 49492.2: we have docked to visit the new station set up at the mouth of the newly discovered wormhole, preparing our own excursion to the other side… _

Tina laid on the exam table, her shirt pulled up revealing her belly, which had just begun to swell in the last couple of weeks. Newt stood beside her, holding her hand and smiling softly as Leta waved a scanner over Tina’s belly. On the screen beside them, they could see the baby kicking and somersaulting away inside of her. 

“Everything looks great,” Leta smiled, “the baby is developing wonderfully, Tina, all your vitals are perfect, and congratulations on having passed the halfway mark!” 

Newt and Tina smiled at each other and shared a heartfelt kiss. Though still most definitely feeling scared and vastly underprepared for the baby, they’d come a long way in the last five months. 

As they got to see the baby at each appointment with Leta, they had begun to feel more connected and excited about it. In the last two weeks, Tina had begun to feel the baby moving, which made it seem more real. Regardless of the mix of emotions surrounding the whole situation, one thing that was not in doubt was that Newt and Tina already loved their unborn child more than anything. 

It helped that Leta had assured the couple that Tina had no reason to restrict any of her activities yet. “It’s a common myth, that many peoples across many worlds hold,” she had explained, “but actually, there’s no reason a fit, healthy woman with an uncomplicated pregnancy needs to change all that much about her activities. If that changes for any reason, we will handle it then.”

Newt was a bit skeptical, but ultimately trusted Leta’s medical advice. Theseus, who had always been overprotective of his little brother, was equally overprotective of his sister in law, and sometimes overstepped his bounds a bit. However, Leta managed to rein her husband in. 

“I’m the doctor here,” she’d reminded him, and Theseus was left with nothing to say. 

Having determined everything to be in order, Leta had just one more question. “You sure you don’t want to know what you’re having?” Leta knew, and had known for weeks already. In this day and age, it was generally a given that the parents were told. But Newt and Tina had insisted they wanted to be surprised. 

“We’re having a baby,” Newt grinned cheekily, while Tina playfully swatted his arm for telling such a lame joke.

Leta rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“We just like the idea of being surprised,” Tina grinned. 

“It is up to you, of course,” Leta nodded, “though I must admit, it feels strange that I know whether I’m going to have a niece or nephew when you don’t. In any event, everything looks great. Tina, you’re cleared for the trip.”

Tina pulled her shirt back down and hopped off the table. Newt gave her belly an affectionate pat and kissed her temple, and together, they strode out to the shuttle bay. Leta quickly packed up her things and followed them. 

Theseus eyed Tina skeptically as she boarded the shuttle, and Leta shot him the death glare. 

“Now, now, Number One, your wife is the medical professional, not you,” Captain Graves clapped him on the back, “if she says it’s OK for Tina to join us, then it is.” 

Everyone excitedly took their places and as soon as Graves gave the order, Jacob took them out of the docking bay and directly into the wormhole. Streaks of purple and blue flashed by and everyone oohed and ahhed, then, just as suddenly, they emerged on the other side. 

Jacob read out the coordinates to confirm their position. “We are indeed over 90,000 light years from the Bajoran system,” Newt said, his eyes widening in amazement, “without the wormhole, we’d need to travel over 60 years at maximum warp to get here!” 

There was a round of applause as everyone realized just what an amazing occurrence the discovery of this wormhole had been. 

“So, where to? What do we want to explore while we’re on this side?” Theseus wondered. 

“There’s a nice little planetary system not far,” Jacob suggested, “we could make a quick loop, run some probes, and then swing back, all in the course of a day.”

“Alright, let’s hop to it!” Graves ordered. And so they did. 

“The geologists and stellar cartographers are going to love all this data we’re bringing back for them!” Leta gushed the following day as they cruised back toward the wormhole so they could get back to their side of the galaxy. 

“This trip has been incredible!” Tina agreed, flushed with excitement. She gave Leta a thankful glance; it was, after all, thanks to Leta that she’d been cleared to join. 

“Agreed, this has been a great success,” Theseus chimed in, “and I look forward to everything this new discovery will bring to the Federation.”

“This does call for a celebration as soon as we get back!” Queenie squealed enthusiastically.

“Three minutes to the wormhole opening,” Jacob announced, and they saw the mouth of it open as the shuttle approached.

They entered the wormhole, and everything proceeded smoothly, just as it had on their way over. Except they suddenly began to shudder. 

“Scamander, what’s going on?” Graves called out, clinging to the arms of his chair.

“I don’t know, we seem to be bombarded by a wave of excess neutrino particles!” Newt shouted back, hurriedly punching into his console while trying to keep his balance. Then, just as suddenly as the shuddering started, it stopped. But so did the shuttle. They were completely stalled. 

Newt got up to go check the engines, but passed Tina on the way. “You alright, love?” he asked nervously, protectively laying a hand on her belly. 

“A bit dizzy,” Tina admitted, “but you probably should go look at the engines so that we can get mov-” She stopped mid sentence, suddenly collapsing right into Newt’s arms. 

Newt yelped, Queenie screamed, and both Theseus and Leta immediately rushed over. Newt sat on the floor and laid Tina’s head on his lap, while Leta scanned her. He nervously stroked his wife’s hair, his face so white his freckles stood out in stark contrast. 

“Other than a slightly elevated blood pressure, everything else is completely normal,” Leta shook her head, befuddled, “baby is perfectly safe. And if not for the fact that she’s unconscious, I’d say Tina is safe too!” 

“But something is clearly wrong,” Newt murmured, his voice trembling…

One moment, Tina had been telling Newt to go check the engines, the next, there was a flash of white light, and she found herself somewhere that was both familiar and different, kind of like those dreams where you’re in your own home but there’s somehow an escalator in your living room. She was on the Ilvermorny, but not. 

And the people around her were all the people she knew--Newt, Queenie, Jacob, Theseus, Leta and Graves--yet at the same time, she knew it wasn’t really them. 

“Where am I? And who are you?” Tina demanded to know. 

“We are the inhabitants and guardians of the wormhole,” the Newt-being said. 

“So I’m, like, in the wall of the wormhole or something?” Tina bit her lip. 

“You aren’t ‘in’ anywhere, at least not in terms you can understand,” the Leta-being told her. 

“We exist outside your dimension and time, as you conceive of it,” the Queenie-being explained. 

“This is all too much for me, my head is spinning,” Tina groaned, rubbing her temples. 

“You don’t have to understand,” the Newt-being said soothingly, squeezing her hand just the way real Newt would. 

“You are a friend of The Barebone,” the Graves-being chimed in, “and that is why we brought you here.” 

“Er...thanks?” Tina raised an eyebrow.

“We just needed to make sure you know some things,” the Jacob-being said, “then you can go back.”

“This is a great moment of discovery,” the Theseus-being said solemnly, “but also of great risk. Not everyone on the other side will take kindly to this new link. Whatever happens, you must protect Bajor. Protect Bajor at all costs.”

“I mean...isn’t that what we’ve been doing all these years?” Tina shook her head in confusion, “Years of war with the Cardassians, and now these years of ceasefire… Of course we’re protecting Bajor!” 

“Protect Bajor,” the Theseus-being reiterated, “the Barebone will know…”

“Yes, the Barebone will know,” the other beings chimed in, “protect Bajor…”

“But what does that mean, if it’s something different than what we’ve been doing?” Tina cried out, “what do you want from me? You’re gonna need to be more specific than-” 

Another white light flashed, just like the one that had brought her to this bizarre place. Tina groaned and opened her eyes, and found herself looking up at her husband’s terrified face. 

“Tina!” Newt cried out, peppering her face with kisses the moment he saw that she’d come to.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Theseus murmured, slumping back into his seat. 

Leta shook her head, still confused. “Blood pressure back to normal. Both mother and baby are perfectly fine. I still haven’t the faintest idea what happened…”

Tina was about to answer when the engines suddenly whooshed back to life. “Jacob, take us out of here while you still can,” Newt ordered while still holding Tina in his lap. 

“Already on it,” Jacob replied, and in moments, they emerged back on their side. 

Tina was now sitting up, though Newt had an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. “We need to get a hold of Credence,” Tina insisted. 

“Only after I give you a full workup in sick bay,” Leta insisted. Tina noted that Newt and Theseus were ready to pounce if she argued on that. 

“I’ll go, but if you must know, nothing happened,” Tina explained, “the creatures of the wormhole, whatever they are, they took me. They’re on, like, some different plane of existence or something.” 

“So you looked unconscious to us, but really you were just somewhere else,” Leta finished for her, “fascinating. Still checking you out though. Just to be safe.”

“So long as the captain can get Credence on a secure channel as soon as you're done, I won’t argue,” Tina grinned. 

“Consider it done,” Captain Graves nodded, as Jacob steered the shuttle back into the ship’s shuttle bay. 

*****************

“I am, of course, sorry you must go again so soon, but I know that you’ll be back whenever you can manage it,” Grindelwald murmured against Dumbledore’s cheek, stroking his hair softly as Dumbledore rested his head on his chest, “You always do find your way back to me.”

“I suppose that will always be the way for us,” Dumbledore sighed wistfully, “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

“You could join me. Make the choice to stay this time,” Grindelwald whispered before capturing Dumbledore’s lips with his own. 

“You know I can’t,” Dumbledore murmured back as they broke apart, “I am loyal to the Federation.”

“That may be so politically, but in your heart, you are true to me,” Grindelwald chuckled softly. Dumbledore snuggled against his chest once more; he did adore the feel of his lover’s rumbling laugh. 

“I’m on thin ice with them,” Dumbledore reminded him, “I traded something extremely valuable for my release, but they don’t trust me.”

“Then why must you gift them with your loyalty?” Grindelwald pouted.

“Let’s remember, if your people knew about us, you would not get so much as a trial, let alone live to see me again,” Dumbledore said softly. 

Grindelwald couldn’t argue with that. Besides, time was running out. Dumbledore had to return to Federation territory before anyone noticed he’d even left. Grindelwald cupped his cheek and sighed heavily. 

“No need for drama, Gellert,” Dumbledore said with a serene smile, “you said it yourself; I always do find my way back. And you...you would like for me to continue to come back when I can?” 

Grindelwald answered with a rough kiss. “Try not to make it too long between visits, Albus.”

“I’ll try,” Dumbledore promised, “though even if weeks stretch into months, even with whatever political developments may arise, I will be back. You know that.”

“Always?”

“Always.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know your thoughts below!
> 
> See you tomorrow to wrap it up!!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disaster! All systems are down shipwide! And Tina is due to give birth any day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, the grand finale! And yes, for those in the know, this is based on one of my favorite Star Trek episodes ever, the TNG episode entitled Disaster!
> 
> Glossary : 
> 
> matter-antimatter containment: both matter and antimatter are required for warp engines, but must be kept separate to avoid an explosion
> 
> quantum filament: an astrophysical phenomenon which could be very hazardous to space vehicles.

_ Captain’s log stardate 49512.7: as our Chief Security Officer was warned by the Wormhole Aliens when we visited four months ago, our new developments have come with new complications. We are enroute to a Federation meeting about how to handle the latest tensions… _

Newt stood right behind Tina as she brushed her hair, resting his chin on her shoulder while wrapping his arms around her. He planted his hands on her enormous belly, hoping to catch a kick this morning before they had to leave for work.  __

He was rewarded with several, and smiled giddily, trailing kisses along her jaw as she sighed contentedly. With just two to three weeks to go (according to Leta), they had come a long way since the initial shock of finding out. While still apprehensive about the major change to their lives being so imminent, they were now just as excited as they were nervous about it. 

After lingering a few more minutes, enjoying the tender moment together, it was time for them to leave for their respective shifts. They kissed each other sweetly, then Newt knelt down to press his lips against Tina’s belly.

“Now don’t you give your mother any trouble today,” he playfully chided the baby, before standing back up to steal one more kiss from Tina, “love you both.”

“Love you too, hon,” Tina smiled back, “now don’t you give me any trouble either!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, love,” Newt smirked, as they stepped out together and went their separate ways. 

***********************

“This day comes every year, Captain, one would think you’d be used to it by now,” Queenie chided the Captain as he paced the bridge nervously, “besides, these are the best students on the ship, they’re not gonna make any trouble for you.”

“I know, it’s just...you know I’m not really a kid person,” Graves sighed, “there’s a reason I never had any. That was a deliberate choice.”

“Well, you’re the captain of a galaxy class ship,” Queenie reminded him, “this ship is full of families. We have a daycare on board, and a school! Now, get your game face on, and let’s bring the science fair winners onto the bridge.” 

The turbolift opened, and out stepped the three students, a 7 year old boy, a 9 year old girl, and an 11 year old girl. 

The captain smiled awkwardly before clearing his throat to begin the tour. 

*********************

Jacob and Newt stood at opposite ends of a large console down in engineering, working on some warp coil adjustments. 

“I’m hoping to increase efficiency by another percent or two,” Newt explained as they worked. 

“Is there ever a point at which we can stop trying to squeeze more efficiency percentage points out?” Jacob mused, and Newt just shrugged with a cheeky grin. 

“So,” Jacob smirked as he changed the subject, “it’s any day now for you guys, isn’t it? You ready?”

“I suppose,” Newt started ticking items off with his fingers, “We’ve made our arrangements for parental leave, signed up with the daycare, replicated the necessary baby items and prepared the nursery, Leta’s explained the whole delivery procedure…”

“I mean, like, emotionally ready,” Jacob chuckled bemusedly at Newt’s engineer-like quantification of readiness, “after all, there’s more to having a baby than having all the stuff ready.”

Newt bit his lip for a moment, then smiled serenely. “It’s happening regardless of how ready we are, and happening soon. I don’t know that anyone can ever truly be ready for something like this.” 

“I have definitely heard other parents say that,” Jacob nodded, “Well, I think you guys are gonna do great. And remember, you’ve got both sides of your family right here on the ship. We’re here for you!”

“Thank you,” Newt murmured gratefully, as they turned their attention back to their work. 

A sudden and powerful lurch threw them both, as well as a dozen other crewmates, to the floor. The lights went out, and the engines cut out with a loud bang. 

“What the hell was that?!” Jacob moaned, sitting up and rubbing his sore back.

“I don’t know, but we need to find out,” Newt said, dusting himself off as he stood and offering Jacob a hand, “come on, it looks like some people are hurt down here, and we’ve lost main power…”

*********************

“And so, that’s the bridge,” Graves announced as he wrapped up his tour of the bridge, “now let’s get on the turbolift so we can see some of the other important parts of the ship.” He ushered the children to the turbolift. Tina stepped out as soon as it opened. 

“Good morning, sir,” she saluted the captain, then warmly smiled at the children. 

“Kids, this is Lieutenant Goldstein, our Chief of Security,” Graves introduced her to the kids as she waddled over to her station. 

“Nice to meet you,” Tina waved at them, “congratulations on the science fair. Enjoy your tour!” 

The children waved back as they followed the captain onto the turbolift to continue on to the next part of their tour. 

“You’ve got the bridge, Number One,” Graves nodded to Theseus. 

“Aye, sir,” Theseus replied as the doors closed behind Graves and the kids. 

“He’ll manage,” Queenie giggled after they left, “he did very well with the bridge tour. Perhaps you should be running the tour, Teen, it would be good practice.”

“Not for a baby, it wouldn’t,” Tina laughed, as she rubbed her belly, “it’s gonna be awhile before this kid is doing science fairs and stuff.” 

“Don’t be so sure, Newt wrote his first computer program when he was four,” Theseus chuckled fondly at the memory, “he programmed a virus that made our replicator make only ice cream. It took our parents two days to get it back to normal.”

“Stop, Theseus, you’re scaring her!” Queenie admonished him with a bemused smile. 

“A bit late for that,” Theseus teased, “Tina knew what she was getting into with my brother, right, Tina?” 

Tina opened her mouth to give a humorous retort, but never got the chance. The ship lurched wildly and she was thrown violently to the floor. Sparks flew as various instruments shorted and the lights went out. 

Tina managed to pull herself up to a sitting position by the time Theseus and Queenie rushed over to check on her. “I’m fine, really, guys,” she assured them, though they both looked skeptical, “You really don’t need to fuss over me like this...what the hell just happened anyway?”

“I have no idea, but whatever it was…” Theseus gestured helplessly to their dim surroundings. 

Meanwhile, Queenie was trying her communicator again and again. “Bridge to captain...bridge to engineering...bridge to sick bay…” There was no response. 

“So communication is cut off as well,” Theseus bit his lip looking around nervously. 

“Well, in the meantime, let’s get you off the floor,” Queenie reached out to help her sister up, and Theseus helped her from the other side. Together, they steered her to Theseus’ First Officer’s chair. 

“Really, guys, I’m fine! I can walk on my own!” Tina insisted, only to suddenly feel a large wet release gushing out from between her legs. She looked down at the large puddle right below her. 

Theseus paled as Queenie gasped, “Teen, your water just broke!” 

**********************

By the time Leta picked herself up from the floor, casualties were already making their way into sick bay. Unfortunately, with communications down, as well as the computer system, there was no way to know just how bad it was. 

“No turbolifts, all transporters offline,” one of the nurses confirmed. 

“So that means a lot of casualties won’t be able to get here,” Leta nodded grimly, deep in thought. Whatever they’d just encountered had shaken the ship quite badly; there were likely many casualties that would be requiring acute assistance. This was an utter disaster.

“I think we should establish another treatment center at Ten Forward,” Leta finally decided, “you three,” she gestured to a doctor and two nurses, “get yourselves to Ten Forward, take what you can. People who are closer to that area of the ship should be directed there.” 

“Aye, sir,” they murmured together, before grabbing their med kits and climbing into a vent, one after the other, to find their way to the other side of the ship. 

Leta then began dispatching more teams through the vents, to check other areas of the ship for casualties. With communications down, she could not contact the bridge to be in touch with the captain about the situation, nor could she know whether her husband was alright. But there was nothing she could do, but carry out her duties the best she could in such a crisis…

***************************

“Here,” Newt thrust the medkit into Jacob’s arms as they jogged over to the warp core to check the extent of the damage, “you attend to anyone injured while I handle the core.”

“Shouldn’t we be trying to beam people over to sick bay?” Jacob asked nervously. 

“Communications are down, we’re on backup auxiliary power on life support systems only,” Newt shook his head, “nobody is getting to sick bay right now. We can only do whatever we can until transferring them becomes possible.” 

Jacob took a deep breath and nodded. Sure enough, there were a number of injuries to crew members who had been standing by the engine when it went out. He immediately got to work doing the best he could with the first aid kit. It would have to do, possibly for hours. 

Newt assessed the damage and quickly came to a very unfortunate conclusion. The matter-antimatter containment field was collapsing...if they didn’t stabilize it soon, there would be a core breach, and the ship would blow…

“Antimatter containment is collapsing!” he cried out, “Anyone who’s standing, get over here, we need to divert all available power to stabilizing containment!” 

A dozen crewmembers rushed over to help, and they worked together to stabilize the field. Newt directed his team through the procedure, maintaining an outward calm, though inside, he was anything but. 

He managed not to think too hard about his pregnant wife, likely trapped on the bridge; after all, the best (and only) thing he could do for her right now was not allow the ship to blow up. Once that was handled, he could think about other things. 

**************************

This was a living nightmare. It was bad enough that there was clearly a major malfunction, leaving the captain trapped on a turbolift, with no functioning communications, unable to help or even find out what was wrong with his ship; it was made all that much worse by the fact that he was trapped on said turbolift with three terrified, whimpering children. Oh, and a badly sprained, possibly fractured ankle. 

“Hey, kids,” he grimaced through the pain, hoping it looked more like a smile, “it’s alright. We’re gonna be fine.”

“Everyone’s probably dead,” 11 year old Lily said glumly. 

“Well we’re not,” Graves raised an eyebrow, wondering how such a young child could be such a pessimist, “and probably not that many others are either.”

“We’re-we’re gonna die!” 9 year old Ginny blubbered. 

“No we’re not, I won’t let that happen,” Graves insisted, though he was starting to get a tad alarmed by just how quickly these children were jumping to the worst case scenario. 

7 year old Neville burst into tears. Graves threw his hands up in the air, not having the foggiest idea of what to do while three scared children cried loudly. Suddenly, it came to him. 

“Kids,” he said sternly, and three tearstained faces turned to look at him, “I am the captain, and I intend to lead us out of this situation, as is my duty. But I need a crew.”

“But your crew isn’t here!” Lily exclaimed, “they might...they might even be--”

“I know,” Graves cut her off before she could finish the dreadful thought, “that’s why right now, I’m promoting you three to be my crew.”

“But...but you can’t…” Lily sputtered. 

“Of course I can, I’m the captain,” Graves said, with a rare twinkle in his eye, “and I appoint you to be my First Officer.” He removed a pip from his collar and pinned it on Lily’s shirt. She bowed her head with a serious expression, ready to undertake this grave responsibility. 

Graves then turned to the other two children. “You, Ginny, are to be my director of Ops,” he said, removing another pip and giving it Ginny, “and Neville, you’re my Chief of Security. Can you handle the responsibility?” 

“Yes, sir!” Neville saluted, with a most determined expression as Graves gave him a pip as well. 

“Excellent,” Graves addressed his little crew, “now, to business…”

****************************

With the containment field restored, the immediate crisis was averted. Now that the ship wasn’t going to blow up, Newt took a moment to breathe and wipe the sweat from his brow. 

“That was a close one,” Jacob murmured, sidling up to Newt, “but now what? Do you have any idea…?”

“Something I’ve only read about, but never actually come across,” Newt murmured, “I think we’ve hit a quantum filament.”

“Yeesh,” Jacob let out a low whistle, “yeah, I’ve read about those too...bad news if we did hit one but, yeah, it definitely fits with this level of damage. So, what now, in your opinion?”

“Two main priorities,” Newt explained, “We need to get a distress signal out, if we can. We’re going to need towing, even if I do get the impulse engines back online myself, we won’t have warp without extensive repairs that can’t happen without visiting a starbase…”

“And the second priority?”

“We need to get primary power back on, so the computers can run,” Newt shook his head, “without that, replicators can’t do anything other than field rations and water, doors and turbolifts won’t be working, no communications, and sick bay is likely quite hobbled in what procedures they can do.” He gulped. The odds were remote, but he couldn’t help thinking of Tina and the baby. If she needed sick bay before they managed to get the systems back up, they might not be able to help…

“In any event,” he shook himself out of his catastrophic line of thought, “one of us is going to need to make their way to the bridge.”

“Well, of course it should be you,” Jacob immediately replied. 

Newt very much wanted to be the one to go. But his reasoning was completely selfish. He wanted to go because he knew that’s where Tina was. If he went, he could know for sure that she was alright…

“I know what you’re thinking Newt,” Jacob said softly, patting him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. You objectively should be the one to go, and not just because of her. You’re the Chief Engineer. When there’s a crisis, you’re the one they call to the bridge. You were probably the first one they tried to call when we hit the filament…”

Newt nodded. He didn’t need much convincing. “Of course, I’ll still need to leave instructions here...and it’ll take me a while to get over there, relegated to crawling through the vents…”

“Well, then, what are you waiting for?” Jacob clapped him on the back, “go over the plan with us, and get crawling!”

***************************

“We can’t deliver a baby!” Theseus shook his head incredulously. 

“We might not have a choice,” Queenie sighed, “As things stand, we have no way of going to, or even communicating with sick bay.”

“Leta said that labor doesn’t always kick in right away when the water breaks at the beginning,” Tina suggested hopefully, “so maybe Newt and the engineering crew will get this all fixed before...oooof…” she grimaced and bit her lip as she felt a painful squeeze around her middle.

Queenie and Theseus shared a panicked look. “What, I’m fine,” Tina insisted, even getting up from the chair to show them, “even if that was a...what we all think it was, it’s the very beginning. Surely, engineering will have this figured out by the time it’s really time?”

Queenie pulled out her PADD. “We can’t take chances though. Luckily, all PADDs have basic emergency medical procedures downloaded directly to the device, and I’m pretty sure childbirth is one of them.”

“This is just great,” Theseus muttered, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Don’t worry, your wife will be the one delivering this baby,” Tina promised, cradling her belly, “in the meantime, we should try to work out whatever we can from here. I’m sure engineering can use all the help they can get.”

Theseus nodded in agreement and pulled out an emergency toolkit from under the helm console. “Let’s try to get a distress signal out, for one,” he suggested. 

An hour later, the bridge officers were not terribly optimistic. Theseus had tried a few methods of getting a distress signal out, though he had no way of knowing whether it had actually worked. They still had no idea why they’d sustained this level of damage, and had not managed to get even the smallest spark of a restart on any of the consoles. 

But worst of all, Tina was very much in labor. She had contractions coming at regular five minute intervals. She was no longer in a state to work, and Theseus and Queenie now had to prepare for the very likely scenario that they were going to have to deliver the baby. 

Luckily, Queenie had been right about the PADD having childbirth instructions directly downloaded, so at least they had some guidance on what to do, although they had to hope that nothing went wrong, because they could not access sick bay if it did. 

For now, apparently, the thing to do was to keep Tina moving, and regularly check her vital signs. Tina leaned on her sister’s arm as they walked around and around the bridge, while Theseus regularly scanned her with a tricorder. 

***********************

Graves and his crew ultimately decided to leave the turbolift and find their way to a deck. At least that way, they could find other people and have a chance of getting more information. 

For safety, he had taken an emergency cable and tied it around everyone’s waist. “I’ll stay at the bottom, you three climb ahead of me.”

“But sir,” Lily asked, wrinkling her brow, “what about your ankle?”

“I’ve got two working arms and one and a half working legs,” Graves answered, “and we’re only climbing a few stories. Now, let’s hop to it!” 

They all stood up together, Graves leaning against a wall as he did so. He boosted Neville and then Ginny up through a small crawl space, at which point the two worked together to open up a larger hatch in the ceiling to accommodate Lily and Graves. 

Then, one by one, in size order, they climbed the emergency shaft ladder. It was slow going, especially with Graves unable to put weight on his bad leg, but he kept up the cheeriest demeanor he knew how. It was critical that nobody panic. 

Three stories up, they reached their first door. Graves pulled a magnetic device out of his pocket and passed it up. “Now, Neville, fix that to the corner, it should open enough to let you through,” he instructed, “then, when you’re safely on the landing, you can push for a larger opening.” 

Neville did as instructed. After shimmying through the door, he was able to push it open a crack more. It was enough for the other children to get through, but not enough for Graves. However, all three, under the direction of “First Officer” Lily, managed to open it enough for Graves to come through. They even helped hoist him up the last bit, to spare his bad ankle. 

“Thanks, kids,” Graves panted with a smile, as he sat up against a wall in the corridor, “you have been an excellent crew. Now we need to find someone who might know what’s going on. And of course, help anyone who might need help. You guys still my crew?”

“Aye, sir!” the kids shouted in unison.

***********************

“Good lord, how much more of this must she endure?” Theseus demanded to know, “This is positively barbaric!” 

He was white as a sheet, and holding Tina’s hand, mopping her brow, and periodically scanning her with the tricorder as she screamed bloody murder and swore a blue streak. Queenie, for her part, was alternating between massaging Tina’s back and checking her dilation while Theseus politely looked away. 

They were now in Captain Graves’ Ready Room, which, being adjacent to the bridge, they were actually able to access. Queenie had suggested it when Tina’s labor had really kicked up, as they knew the captain often slept in there, and felt it might be more comfortable for Tina. 

Theseus had opened up the sofa bed, and prepared blankets and pillows. Queenie even convinced Tina to put on the captain’s bathrobe. She had been reluctant, but Queenie reminded her that it would be easier for her to check Tina regularly while still keeping her relatively covered up. 

“The captain will understand, once this is all over,” Queenie assured her, as Theseus stepped back onto the bridge so that she could help her sister change. That had been over three hours ago, and Tina’s agony had only worsened since then.

“I can’t do this!” Tina moaned. 

“You can, and you will,” Queenie calmly insisted, “generations of mothers have done this and lived to tell the tale.”

“Not in hundreds of years!” Tina exclaimed, another primal scream slipping out as yet another contraction pummeled her. 

“Barbaric,” Theseus muttered again in total sympathy, “I honestly don’t understand how any humanoid species survived before discovering anesthetics…” Tina screamed again and Theseus squeezed her hand. It was all he could do. Queenie announced that she was going to check Tina’s progress again, so Theseus turned his head away. 

“You’re so close, Teenie,” Queenie told her, “eight centimeters. Two more to go.”

Tina groaned. Theseus mopped her brow and scanned her. Tina screamed again, and Queenie helped her shift into a different position. 

***************************

Newt clanked through the twists and turns. Anyone else might have gotten terribly lost, but Newt knew the ins and outs of this ship better than anyone. He did make stops along the way, mainly to work on various ports that might help get other systems up and running. Anxious as he was to reach the bridge so that he could know his wife’s fate, he knew he had work to do. Besides, the more he could fix along the way, the better the chances that Tina could be helped if she needed it…

After nearly six hours working through the vents and tubes, Newt was finally at the stretch that would take him to the bridge. He crawled faster, determination etched in his face. He was already exhausted from this crisis, and he knew much more work awaited him once he reached the bridge, but just the thought of seeing Tina, and confirming that she was OK gave him the energy he needed to keep going. 

He reached the panel directly over the bridge and unscrewed it, heaving it to the side and jumping down, directly onto the bridge. It looked empty. Newt looked around confused for a few seconds, until he heard his wife screaming from the ready room. 

He rushed in with his phaser out, even though he couldn’t for the life of him fathom how it could be an attack, and burst into the room, where he found Theseus and Queenie attending to a sweating and screaming Tina who was sprawled out on the captain’s sofa bed. 

“Newt!” Theseus called out, “Oh, thank goodness you’re here! The baby is coming!” 

Newt just stood there, staring in shock and disbelief. “Baby…? Now…? But...but…”

“Yes, now!” Theseus snapped irritably, “well, not right this second, but rather soon.” 

“But how? Without a doctor?” Newt murmured, his face so white, his freckles stood out prominently.

“The way it happened for millennia before doctors and hospitals were a thing,” Queenie shrugged, “we don’t exactly have a choice here…”

Newt nodded, still in total shock at what was happening. He didn’t even feel himself moving, but he must have, because he soon found himself next to Tina. Theseus stepped to the side to make room, so that Newt could finally be the one to hold Tina’s hand. 

Tina’s eyes widened as she saw that her husband had made it. “Newt,” she moaned hoarsely, and squeezed his hand. 

“I’m here, love,” he said softly and pressed his lips to her sweaty forehead. Tina smiled for a split second, before another agonizing contraction arrived. She screamed, and Newt’s heart broke hearing it. 

“I hate you,” she moaned as soon it subsided. 

“Sorry, but I can’t blame her,” Theseus shrugged sheepishly, patting Newt on the shoulder, “she’s been in agony for hours, and, well, you are the one that put that baby in her…”

“I’m sorry, Newt,” Tina apologized weakly, “I love you, and you’re finally here...It just hurts so much…” 

“I’m so sorry,” Newt murmured as he kissed her forehead again, “I’m so sorry I did this to you…”

Tina screamed again, just as Queenie went in for another progress check. “Ten centimeters!” she announced happily, “you really are almost there!” 

“Ten centimeters!” Theseus repeated, relieved, “that’s it! You can now give birth!” 

Tina glared daggers at him while Queenie said softly, “It doesn’t quite work like that, Theseus. Newt, I’m gonna need your help here. We need to get Tina into position.” 

Queenie consulted her PADD again and beckoned Newt over. Together, they saw the instructions. “I’ll deliver the baby, I just need you to help Teen position herself. And of course, hold her hand as she needs it.”

Theseus stepped out of the room and back onto the bridge, but stayed near the door in case he was needed. Newt and Queenie helped Tina over to the side of the couch and helped her squat. Queenie then got into position, according to the instructions. 

“I see the head!” she cried out, “Teen, when you feel the next contraction, you need to push, ok?” 

Newt was now facing Tina, looking into her eyes and holding both her hands. “I’ve got you,” he whispered, giving her hands a squeeze, just as Queenie directed her to push. 

Tina bore down as hard as she could, then eased up. Nothing yet. But when the next contraction came, she didn’t scream, as she’d been doing for hours. She bore down again. She didn’t need Queenie to tell her, it just instinctively happened. 

The pain was still excruciating, but now, there was finally a purpose. She could feel herself progressing, feel the baby sliding down. It really was almost over. She stared deep into her husband’s sea-green eyes. She did wonder how he’d gotten here, how he’d even known to come, but it didn’t really matter. She was grateful that he was here…

Time had essentially stopped for Tina, but Newt was well aware of its passage. “What’s taking so long?” he asked nervously, “it’s been over twenty minutes…”

“Totally normal, especially for a first timer,” Queenie assured him, “and I can see the progress, the baby is so close...come on, Teenie!” 

“I’ve got you,” Newt mouthed again, as Tina gave another push, this time with a scream, as she felt a sort of ring of fire. 

“That would be the head!” Queenie announced, “the head is out! Gimme another one like that!” 

Tina pushed again, as Queenie maneuvered the shoulders out. Finally, one more small push, and the baby slid out the rest of the way. Tina felt immediate relief, though was rather shaky as Newt helped her back into the bed. 

A sharp cry filled the room as Queenie called out, “It’s a girl! You guys have a little girl!”

Newt and Tina both laughed joyfully and shared a sweet kiss, Queenie cut the cord with her phaser, wiped off the baby, and handed her to Newt, who then climbed into the bed beside Tina and deposited their daughter into her arms. 

“I still need to do a few things for Tina,” Queenie said, consulting her PADD again, “but congratulations, you guys! I’m so happy for you!” 

Tina handed the baby back to Newt while Queenie delivered the afterbirth and massaged her womb, just as noted in the instructions. When she was done, he gave the baby back to Tina.

“You’ll still need to go to sick bay, Leta definitely needs to check you both out and make sure everything is as it should be,” Queenie, covered in blood and gunk, explained, “but this’ll do for now. Oh Teenie, my little niece is here!” 

She kissed the baby on the forehead, then called Theseus in. “Commander, get in here and meet your niece!” 

Theseus bounded in with a large smile, and hugged his brother tightly, kissed his sister in law on the cheek, and admired the baby. 

“Listen, Newt, I do hate to interrupt this splendid moment, but now that she’s here, we need to get back to trying to fix things,” Theseus sighed. 

Newt looked over nervously at Tina and the baby. He didn’t want to leave them so soon, and he did worry about their health, especially as they weren’t under a doctor’s care, but he knew his brother was right. 

Queenie, of course, could hear his thoughts exactly. “You know, the sooner you get things up and running, the sooner we can get them to Leta to have a look,” she squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, “I will look after them in the meantime.” 

Newt squeezed Queenie’s hand gratefully, then turned back to his little family. “I’ll be right on the bridge, I won’t be far,” he murmured in Tina’s ear. 

“I understand,” Tina said, holding their baby close, “duty calls.”

Newt kissed his wife softly, then elatedly placed a small kiss on his daughter’s forehead, before returning to the bridge. 

*********************************

“Everyone looks wonderful,” Leta declared late that night, once enough systems had come back online to allow mother and baby to be brought to her, “Though I am astonished that you came through all on your own…”

“It’s not like we had a choice,” Tina shrugged, squeezing Newt’s free hand, while Newt rocked their sleeping baby with his other arm. 

“I know...I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to care for you,” Leta sighed, “though it seems your sister did an excellent job.”

“So did your husband,” Tina told her gratefully, “Newt didn’t make it till almost the end. Theseus stuck by my side until he got there, and I’m glad he did.”

“That’s my Theseus,” Leta smiled warmly, “but however did you manage the pain? It must have been excruciating!”

“It sure was, and I don’t think I really did,” Tina chuckled bemusedly, “but, it was all worth it in the end!” She reached over to tenderly stroke her sleeping daughter’s cheek.

“You were braver than any Klingon warrior in battle,” Newt insisted, earning himself a flattered peck on the lips. 

“I’m just glad everyone managed, and no further emergencies popped up,” Leta exhaled in relief, “now, of course, you and the baby do have to stay another day, and we’ll go over all the post-birth care procedures. For now, are you up for visitors?”

“Who?” Tina asked puzzled. 

“May I?” the captain called out from the doorway. He too was wearing a hospital gown, while leaning on a crutch. Leta was also keeping him in for a little bit. “Congratulations to both of you! What a wild ride!”

He hobbled over and sat across from the couple. Three kids, each wearing a pip from the captain’s collar, trailed in after him. “Sorry, these three are my special crew. They’re just looking after me while I recover.” 

Newt and Tina shared a bemused look on seeing Graves so attached to a group of children. “I guess you guys have your own crazy story,” Tina chuckled. 

“That we do,” Graves nodded, “though I think yours wins. By the way, you can, uh, keep the bathrobe. I’ll just replicate a new one.” Everyone laughed. The baby opened one eye, but Newt quickly rocked her back to sleep. 

The children cooed over her, and even Graves got a little misty eyed as he watched the little girl snoring against her father’s chest. 

“Alright, kids, we’ve made our visit, let’s leave the new parents to rest up,” he ordered the kids, and he hobbled back to his bed, the kid crew following devotedly behind him. 

“They really seem to have grown on him,” Tina laughed as they left. 

“After all this, I think a lot of us will be changed,” Newt nodded, then, affectionately nuzzling his daughter, “mostly for the best, I’d say.” He then leaned in and kissed his wife. “To the next great adventure,” he murmured against her lips, just before she kissed him back. 

***********************

_ Four months later _

“Bottles...diapers...pacifier…” Tina nervously checked through the bag one more time. Newt was standing in the doorway, little Molly strapped against him in her carrier. 

“That’s everything,” Newt said, “don’t worry, the daycare knows what they’re doing, probably better than we do. It’s going to be fine.” 

“I know,” Tina sighed, “I’m just nervous, first day jitters and all…”

Newt kissed his wife’s temple softly, holding her close. “You are a brilliant security chief and a brilliant mother. I know it’s your first day doing both and you’re understandably a bit overwhelmed, but I know you’re going to be brilliant at balancing both. I know it! Now, let’s go bring Molly to daycare.”

Molly gurgled softly as her parents walked together, hand in hand, to drop her off for her first day at daycare and her mother’s first day back on duty. The parents went over everything with the daycare teacher, and kissed their daughter goodbye several times, waving through the window one last time when they finally headed out. 

The last four months had been quite a blur, of sleepless nights, round the clock feedings and diaper changes. Becoming parents really had flipped their lives upside down, in ways they couldn’t have ever imagined when they’d first found out they were expecting. And yet, Molly had brought them a level of joy they never could have imagined either. 

“We are crazy, aren’t we?” Tina giggled fondly, as they walked down the hall, “being out here, having a baby in these crazy times, while living on a starship...and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Indeed,” Newt agreed, “I’ve always been crazy, and you are clearly crazy to have gone and married me...and I would not change our lives for all the galaxy!” 

“Well, it’s off to work,” Tina said brightly, as they reached the point where they had to go their separate ways. 

“And Molly and I eagerly await hearing all about it over dinner,” Newt squeezed her hands, pulling her in for one more kiss. 

“Only after playtime with the creatures first,” Tina grinned, earning her one more very eager kiss before they really did have to go. 

With that, they parted for work. Just an average little family, going about their day as their starship hurtled through space, to keep boldly going to whatever new frontier there was to find. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I had so much fun with this, and hope I did it justice. Thank you to those of you who stuck along for the ride! 
> 
> Good news, I have a new AU written up, that I will begin posting on Sunday, so make sure to check back in then!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope to update about once a week for now. Depending on how I progress with writing the story, that may become more frequent. 
> 
> As always, I live for your kudos and comments, so please share!!


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